Touhou: Mystic Mutation
by OwlBear EX
Summary: After years of living with her defeat during the events of Phatasmagoria of a Dim. Dream PoDD , Yumemi and Chiyuri return to Gensokyo to show the residents the true power of science...but they'll have help in doing so...
1. Chapter 1: Thriller Science

Touhou: Mystical Mutation

-A Touhou fanfiction by the forever depressed, Demonlord Pichu

Pro Phase: Thiller Science

It is known in our realm that science is a very powerful field, ever since man has made discoveries about our world they have put many of their old world theories and notions aside. Science has grown so powerful that it now questions the exsistance of the gods themselves. In Science there is always a logical explanation for a problem or mystery, The sun disappears it's an eclipse, the sky lights up with a night time rainbow, the Aurora Borealis. Anything and everything has a scientific explination rooted somewhere with in it even the creation of we human beings has been explained.

However, what happens when such a powerful field is put up against something that is beyond explanation, say Magic? Well, you're probably saying 'What the hell dude, magic doesn't exist go kill yourself!'. Truth is there is another realm where Magic reigns supreme and is so constant that it is an everyday thing, and this realm is known as Gensokyo, hidden from our eyes yet the entrance can be opened to us when our lives reach the end. Here Science is but a fools errand, swept under the rug and forgotten, here Science is but a remnant of the outside world doomed to fade into obscurity at the mercy of Magic and Danmaku...It is but bitter irony, within a world where Science dominates Fantasy it is in Gensokyo that Fantasy overpowers Science...

...However, there are a select few that still believe in (and follow) the teachings of science and are willing to carry on the legacy so long as their minds, bodies and souls permit it. But alas, even with such dedication, science is still no match for magic in Gensokyo, in the words of the Scarlet Devil; 'Perhaps it is fate'...

But today...those select few will finally stand up and show Gensokyo that science hasn't died yet, they'll give it everything they've got to show Gensokyo that, even though science maybe doomed that doesn't mean it will die without a fight...a fight that could very much end the exsitance of Gensokyo...


	2. Chapter 2: Ozakaki Assemble

Pro Phase 2: Okazaki Assemble

"It's been quite a while since then..." came the voice of a young red head standing before a large window overlooking the vastness of space. "Since when, Yumemi?" questioned Chiyuri, Yumemi's ever present(?) assistant and another believer in the science. "You mean, you forgot all about it?" Yumemi says as she glances to the sailor who was still giving her a puzzeled look "Well, it WAS a long time ago, so it's to be expected..." Yumemi chuckled as she contiued to gaze down upon the distant Earth "It's been 11 years, since we last seen Gensokyo, the realm where magic rules over science..."

It is then, Chiyuri's memory began to kick into high gear as the word 'Gensokyo' passed her ears "Oh, you mean the place where we held that tournament?...and got our butts kicked..." The room fell silent for a good moment or two. "O-oh my bad...I didn't mean to put it like that" Chiyuri quickly added as she chuckled sheepishly "...No, no, it is but the truth..." Yumemi replied weakly, apparently she too remembers her defeat in Gensokyo, but she seems to be a bit more embarrased about it than her assistant is.

"Why would ya wanna go back there anyways?"

"For a second chance of course..." Yumemi replied as she walked past Chiyuri heading towards large steel doors "Last time, we were defeated too early, too easily...and I have a good idea why."

"How so? We weren't 'direct' enough or something?" The sailor questioned following close behind her superior.

"Correct, Chiyuri. We should have taken a more aggressive approach to our objective, We had the technology to do so but we squandered our time and payed for it in the end..." Yumemi answered "But this time, I have a different plan in mind, one that is destined to get the job done"

"And what exactly do ya plan to do, Yumemi?" Chiyuri said for a moment before coming to another conclusion "I mean even if we do go back there with a different plan won't that miko just use some 'off the wall magic hax' or something?"

"Ah, but there is another factor to this plan of mine" Yumemi stated in a rather confident tone "For, there is another in Gensokyo who believes in science just as much as we do...I'm sure you remember her from the competition 11 years ago"

Chiyuri stops for a moment as she begins to rack her memory banks for any of the other people who took part in their 'competition way back then "Wait...do you mean Asakura Rikako?"

"Correct" Yumemi replies in agreement as she continues down the hallway "I've done a few re-calculations on the situation 11 years ago and managed to discover that if we enlisted the help of Miss Asakura to begin with we could have very much succeeded in our plans to begin with, since she is a magic user after all and thus could provide us with the nessicary data to conduct our research"

Chiyuri frowns a bit at these words "But, then we wouldn't have had that awesome tournament..." Apparently to her having fun is a tad more important than collecting data on magic...which is to be expected considering how immature she can be...

"...Either way, with Rikako's help I'll finally be able to put this plan into immideate action" Yumemi said, disregarding Chiyuri's last sentence and opening the set of doors infront of her, revealing an ominous, dark room holding rows upon rows of strange pods, their eerie glow bathing the entire room in an alien green light. Inside each one these pods was a small embryo though too small to tell what they were, but big enough to know they definetly weren't human.

"Behold, Chiyuri! The children that will shape Gensokyo into my utopia...a utopia built for science and science alone!"

*~~~~~~*

Meanwhile back on Earth, in the oriental land of Gensokyo, life continues just as it did everyday, if one considers flying mikos, gaps and youkai an everyday thing that is. Of course for the humans who live here it's rather quiet (sometimes) so living in Gensokyo is basically the same as it is in a japanese village. Though as normal as it may look the residents of said village do have knowledge of magic. However on the edge of the village sits a lone cottage, distant from the others like the outcast living inside it's walls, and that outcast was the only known scientist resident to Gensokyo, Rikako Asakura.

Because she believed in science and technology, she was branded with the title of a 'heretic' by the Hakurei Shrine miko, Reimu. Living in solitude since the events of Yumemi's tournament, has proven to be slightly benefical to Rikako, there was no one to disturb her while she conducted research and thus she was able to make many noteble discoveries. But this solitude is also a curse, for now no one is around for her to present her new findings on it is only her and her alone. Though as brilliant a mind she is, with no one to accept her theories her scientific prospects are all but in vain. But today she will have a collision course with destiny...or something else of the like...

"Now I'm sure I put those notes somewhere around here..." She said in a slight panic as she rummagd through her books looking for a certain page of notes she took the other night. Of course it's been quite awhile since she organiazed most of her other notes so you can probably imagine how chaotic it is in her home (those who take ALOT of notes and don't put'em away should know what I'm sayin here...hell I'm one of'em).

She searched through a pile located near her bed but came up short still, though she did find a book she was fixing to read ages ago. She breathed a frustrated sigh as she sat on the foot of her bed and thought for a moment thinking of what she did the night before and where she could have possibly put her notes. She glanced over to a large cluttered self and saw a small peice of paper sticking out from beneath a tower of books "Ah! that's where I put them!" she exclaimed dashing over to the book tower and yanking the note paper from beneath it...unfortunetly, doing such a thing to an already unstable tower of books isn't exactly the wisest choice to make. Rikako looked up and saw the bibliographic pillar slowly leaning toward her ominously threatening her that it was about to come crashing down.

"...Oh Fudge..."

With a loud 'Crash' the books bumbarded the scientist covering her in a sea of pages and dusty book covers. The room fell silent as the dust slowly disappated revealing a lone hand, holding a piece of paper, sticking out from beneath a pile of books. Rikako slowly pushed the pile of fallen books off her body and dusted herself off, all the while mumbling various profanities to herself for not keeping her work area properly clean and proper.

Rikako gave Yumemi and Chiyuri a blank look as she pushed her glasses up on her nose "It's you 2. from 11 years ago, Ozakaki Yumemi and Kitashirasawa Chiyuri I presume..." It was hard to tell if she was happy at the appearance of Yumemi and Chiyuri or if it was the opposite, but either way it's obvious she hasn't forgotten about either of them.

"It's good to see you still remember us, Asakura Rikako" Yumemi replied with a friendly smile

"Someone has to, alot of the residents here have long since thrown your little tourney into the depths of their memory banks" Rikako said with a sigh "Anywho, what is it that you want from me, It's rare for me to have visitors, especially the kind that disappears for 11 years..."

"I've come with a proposition in mind, Rikako Asakura, I wish for you to lend me your aid in a project I'm about to launch, a project that could very well place science where it truly belongs in Gensokyo" Yumemi explained "Though, Chiyuri and I are very capable of doing this on our own (lie, they messed up 11 years ago) YOU however are the one who knows about magic AND science, such knowledge could prove very valuable to this project"

"So...what do ya say?" Chiyuri added with a wide smile "Will ya help us out?"

Rikako remains silent for a moment or two before she frowns a bit "So...you plan on using MY knowledge just to gain something of personal value?" Yumemi's expression drops as she hears a slight hint of anger in Rikako's tone, immediatly she tries to placate the situation "...That's...not exactly what I meant...I simply wish for us to be partners in this endeavor, is all"

Rikako's expression remained in a frown, no matter how many times Yumemi's words were rephrased, Rikako couldn't really find any good coming out of helping the 2 professors. "I'll have to pass...I work alone"

Chiyuri looks to Yumemi who did nothing to stop Rikako "Y-Yumemi you're just gonna let her walk away?" she says in a frantic tone, seeing as to how a crucial part of their plan was literally walking away, but Yumemi remained calm and even cracked a bit of a smile at the situation...which meant she was expecting this reaction from Rikako

"What would you say if I promised you revenge on the one known as, Reimu Hakurei?"

Rikako halts in her tracks and glances toward Yumemi who was smiling at her, but not with friendly intent, this was the smile of 'I got you right where I want you' a smile of sheer confidence. "Why would I want revenge on Reimu..." Rikako replies with a puzzled look, but Yumemi saw right through this, she knew she was right and continued to exploit her advantage in the conversation "Reimu is the one who branded you the title of a heretic is she not?...and simply because you follow the teachings of science no less, Reimu doesn't have the right to decide what you should believe in"

"It's no big deal. I've grown accustomed to it" Rikako says quickly

"That you have...but do you really want to remain as such?"

"Well...No but.."

"You don't have to live life like this, Miss Asakura. If you come with us, we'll make sure your efforts in the field of science are handsomly rewarded" Yumemi offers once again this time, she knew Rikako would accept her proposition...and just as she planned, Rikako did so. "...Fine, Your persistance proves to me that you obviously see me as a valuable asset, to whatever it is you're planning, So...I'll lend you my aide"

"Excellent choice, Rikako, now let's get going there's much to be done" Yumemi said as she started towards the Hypervessel. "And what exactly IS there to be done?" Rikako questioned, which is understandable since she had no idea what Yumemi and Chiyuri were up to. "Don't worry, we'll tell you more about it later" Yumemi answered as she stepped into the large space vessel. "Right now...let us un-wind and catch up on old times, Miss Asakura"

"Yeah, and you can tell us what's been happening in Gensokyo since we left" Chiyuri adds in an upbeat tone


	3. Chapter 3: Tropical Cooridnates 666

Pro-Phase 3: Depths of Tropical Coordinates: 666

Now it should be known that Rikako never really got a chance to see the inside of the Probability Space Hypervessel, being she never won the competition held to enter it (Reimu won that privalige, as usual...) so you can expect that her seeing it for the 1st time was more than a little exciting, but being the professional type she masked this excitement and insisted they move on. Of course, both Yumemi and Chiyuri were fairly certain the purple haired scientist really just wanted a tour of the Hypervessel. To start things off as part of their reunion, Rikako began to explain how things have been in the past 11 years since their departure from Gensokyo, the 1st to be addressed was the obscurity of the both of them were in as of now.

"...So...NONE of them remember us?" Chiyuri said in disappointment. "That sucks, seeing as we all remember them"

"I suppose it does, in fact it didn't even take 3 weeks before everyone who took part in the competition either forgot all about it or disappeared without a trace, the fact that several other, more noteable, events occured contributed to the obscurity of your event" Rikako answered as she shrugged "I'm possibly the sole person who recalls the entire tournament you both held..."

"Events?"

Rikako nodded "Why yes, Gensokyo has been rather lively even after you left. Demons roamed the land, A red mist clouded the skies once, and if I remember correctly there was even an eternal night. Of course Reimu, Marisa and many others were usually the ones to right these wrongs, I on the other had was too busy researching these events to play any direct role in these events."

"So...all this time, you've been sitting here researching on all these events?"

"Yes, I feel that all of them have scientific explanations behind them, even though most of them were started by the use of powerful magic"

"Before, you said 'Many others', who else could have been involved" Yumemi inquired

"Well alot of different people have surfaced after you left, most of them have become famous while others are as obscure as I am, for example there is a young lady known as Alice Magnatroid who is usually seen in the company of Marisa, the girl is quite the recluse actually ever since her home Makai was turned inside out when Reimu and company stormed into it..." Rikako explained as she pushed her glasses up "Though she has played a big part in Gensokyo's history ever since then, although I can't say the same about her mother; Shinki, the creator of Makai...she has made rare appearances but never during the times of those 'Events' I told you of. It's possible she's still rebuilding Makai, but I'm not entirely sure of the details..."

"Hmm, since there are alot more residents in Gensokyo now, what do you think our chances of staying hidden are if I put my plan into motion"

"Well now, that depends on how big a project you're trying to pull" Rikako answered with a small grin attempting to pry some answers out of Yumemi but to no avail being she stayed silent, it would seem like her mouth was nothing but a padlock when it came to revealing things, she sighed and continued "Anyways, since there are alot of denziens in Gensokyo you'll need to stay well hidden from the eyes of Reimu, the Humans, and a rather...annoying journalist by the name of Aya Shameimaru, if she so much as catches a glimpse of something out of the ordinary she'll immedeatly write it down in her newspaper; Bunbunmaru News (which is full of lies) and spread it all over Gensokyo..."

"Oh, so we're going to have to find someplace dark and mysterious in order for things to go smoothly" Chiyuri declared with a scary look on her face, possibly trying to add more effect to the 'dark and mysterious' words she spoke earlier...which didn't seem to work for neither Rikako or Yumemi seemed phased by this.

"I wouldn't say so much as 'dark and mysterious' but some place remote and well hidden will do" Yumemi says "As Rikako said, we can't be seen by Reimu, the humans or this 'Aya' character, but the question is...where can we go to remain hidden?"

"Well...I'm not sure if this is accurate information..." Rikako spoke in a quiet and uncertain manner breaking the silience that once filled the room.

"What is it?"

"...I've heard various 'myths' of rainforest located far off in southern Gensokyo, but I doubt such a place even exists for, according to my various scientific records and notes, Gensokyo is too closed off from the outside world to have such an ecosystem within it" Rikako says "Matter of fact, maybe you should forget I said that...myths aren't really what a scientist is supposed to dwaddle on"

"Nonsense we should investigate it, it's our job to bring mysteries to light"

"...Okay, but I'm not to be held responsible if this turns out to be a complete waste of time..."

Things by this time would be spent searching for said island that Rikako spoke of earlier, but as she said finding it was as difficult as she said it was going to be. So far they've only found forest, mountains and the occasional land marks made famous in Gensokyo. Rikako often insisted that they turn around and forget she mentioned such a place being she knew that this jungle cannot be found no matter what method of searching was conducted. However, Yumemi and Chiyuri persisted. It would take nearly another 4 hours before the group of scientists came across something strange.

"Huh. Was it always this foggy" Chiyuri said as she squinted ahead of her attempting to navigate the Hypervessel through this sudden decline of visibility.

"No, not that I know of. In fact, it's been clear all day today" Yumemi said stepping a bit closer to Chiyuri's position to see if she can make sense of this mysterious fog, but so far her method proved useless. It was just to thick to see through with the naked eye. "Chiyuri, do you think you can take us down?"

"Well, I could. But, given the density of the fog, I don't know if I'll hit anything on my way down...You sure you want me to do this?" Chiyuri asked to her superior who nodded. "Okay, hang on"

As the Hypervessel slowly descended through the fog, it began to slowly dissapate just as Yumemi had predicted. Eventually, the landscape below this fog began to reveal itself to the scientist, and what they came to see was a rainforest below, the lushious sea of green trees stretching on into the the distant horizon, the occasional mountainous outcropping from with the tropical depths of this vast wilderness. But in the distance was a formiddable crag located in what seemed to be the jungle's center, its size just about enough to dwarf any mountain the trio had ever laid eyes on. "I...didn't know this place actually existed" Rikako says, stunned at the tropical rainforest laid out below her. She glanced to Yumemi who seemed to be just as surprised as she was at this (possibly) monumentous find.

"Interesting, I didn't know Gensokyo had such a diverse ecosystem to sustain an area this large."

"That's the thing, It doesn't." Rikako pointed out "Gensokyos climate and ecosystem is equal to that of a temperate forest, in fact my books state that it has always had such an ecosystem and climate ever since it's creation long ago. So ,how a jungle this vast ended up here is beyond me..."

"Perhaps we'll find out if you explore the wilderness a little" Yumemi said with Rikako giving her a 'are you serious' look.

"What? But, we have absolutely no data on this area, if we venture into this jungle we'll surely get lost" She argued which actually proved a valid point in the matter. "And even if we don't get lost, who knows what type of youkai or monster lurks in this wilderness"

"No need to worry, Miss Asakura" The red headed professor said with a smile "The Hypervessel is more than just a means of transportation over the years Chiyuri and I have made several modifications to the vessels Operating System"

"Well...okay, but I still say we should be wary of this area"

"Alright Chiyuri, take us in for a landing"

"Yeah, about that..."

"What?"

"I don't really see any place that we can land smoothly..." Chiyuri replied pointing to the jungle which indeed appeared to have no real areas the Hypervessel could go in for a smooth landing.

Yumemi remained silent for a moment before responding with a different more direct motive "Then we'll just have to settle for uneven and bumpy"

"If you say so, hang on to somethin'"

Just as Chiyuri warned earlier, the landing was nowhere near smooth or comfortable, the tree branches to the jungles canopy snapped and contorted as the Hypervessel pressed through them and penetrated through to the jungle below. Various avian wildlife scattered about as the vessel continued to make it's uneven desension befor finally coming to rest on the floor of the jungle. "And there, we're in" Chiyuri announced to Rikako and Yumemi who were just glad the whole thing was over with. "Heh, and here I thought I wasn't gonna to be able to get through" the sailor gloated, more than a little proud of herself for actually managing to pierce through the jungles thick canopy. Yumemi picked herself up, having fallen over from the entry to the jungle and cleared her throat to gain the attention of her 2 comrades. "Now then, I would believe everyone's okay, so let's see just what this strange new land has to offer"

The three of them exited the safety of their steel plated vessel and entered the primordial threshold of this tropical wilderness the 1st thing they were greeted to was the same fog from before, although it wasn't as thick as before when they were airborne. The surrounding area was completely surrounded in thick flamboyantly colored vegetation most seemed to be plants that seemed to be more akeen to that of prehistoric jungles. The trees themselves however, were the most amazing to gaze upon, for they towered way beyond that a normal individual to see. More so with the wibth of each tree's trunk, which was certain to be just as wide as that of a small house.

"Astounding, this jungle is almost as if it was untouched by time itself" Yumemi exclaimed as she eagerly examines a stubby shrub like plant. "This plant here was said to have been extinct for ages but yet it exists here plain as daylight"

"Hey, do you think, we might find Dinosaurs here" Chiyuri added in an equally excited tone. "Since you said that plant was extinct on the outside maybe Dinosaurs still live here too"

Rikako chuckled at the excitment the two professors were displaying "I wouldn't be to certain of that, Dinosaurs haven't-" Before the bespectacled scientist could finish, a loud screech emitted from the skies above them. Looking up their eyes were met by the vast flapping wings of what looked to be a Pteranodon-like creature. "...This day just loves to prove me wrong doesn't it..." Rikako said as she stares dumbfounded at the sky.

Suddenly as the lot of them were still getting over the possible dinosaur encounter, the thunderous sound of heavy footsteps rumbled from the depths of the wilderness. "Wh-what's going on now?" Rikako questioned the footsteps growing louder by the minute.

"I dunno but we're about to find out" Chiyuri said as she reached into her pocket, her hand on the ray gun she had stashed away for such occasions. The footsteps grew louder and stronger as every second passed by and soon their owner made it's appearance from the dense tropical underbrush, and revealed itself to be a gigantic lion like creature, only this organism had leathery bat wings, and a tail that of a scorpion dons. The immense beast stared down at the trio of humans a low growl emitting from maw. "A-a Manticore?" Rikako gasped stepping back from the beastly chimeras position. Yumemi and Chiyuri looked back to Rikako equally confused on the appearance of this animal. "Did these always exist in Gensokyo?" Yumemi asked with Rikako shaking her head weakly in response. "No. The only place I assume they exist is on the outside, but even then they're mythological creatures. I'm guessing Manticores must be native to this jungle"

"A jungle in which none of you belong in" A hateful voice hissed.

"Up there on the Lion's head!" Chiyuri shouted her finger outstretched to the location of the Manticore's main which housed a young woman sitting within the fur of the beasts hair. The woman appeared to be fairly young in appearance, but judging by the size of her chest she wasn't to be thought of as TOO young, her skin looked that of a suntanned color which probably meant she was often outdoors alot. Her attire was somewhat fitting for the wilderness in which she lived, consisting of; A simple green tunic, torn and generally old looking pants, and a head band tied around her forehead. Besides this she also had some animalistic qualities on her body, her bat like wings, lion tail, horns and beastial fangs proof of this. "What are you humans doing snooping around in this jungle?" The beast woman sneered in a spiteful tone her sharp crimson eyes seething of anger.

"We were just exploring the area is all" Yumemi responded in a calm tone. "You see we're scientists looking for a place to set up shop for a little experimentation"

"Oh is that so? Well then I suggest you get your ass outta-" The beast like woman started before she glanced in the direction of the Hypervessel and raised an eyebrow at it's appearance. "The hell's that thing? Is it some matter of beast?"

"I'm afraid not, that's our Probablility Space Hypervessel" Yumemi said "It's a vehicle we used to fly around Gensokyo and also to land here in this jungle"

The woman blinked for a moment "You mean...that thing...can fly!?"

"Yep, impressed?" Chiyuri said as she smirked to the beast woman who only remained silent, only to burst out laughing a second later.

"Hahahaha! You all MUST be crazy, that thing's a frickin' brick, there's no way it could fly!"

"If you say so" Yumemi simply chuckled at this woman's ignorance of her Hypervessel, if all the residents were like this (which they were) then showing them the power of true power of SCIENCE will be alot more amusing than first planned. The beast woman simply shrugs off the Hypervessel's existance and redirects her gaze to the trio in front of her once again showing her deep spite for humans by the sound of her hissing voice "But that still doesn't change the fact that you three are trespassin' on Chimera property. So, I'm gonna ask you once, and ONLY once, to clear out or I'll bum rush you out myself" She manuvered her clawed fingers, the bones within the knuckles cracking ever so slightly signifying that she was more than willing to use these claws if her demands were not met.

"See? This is why I said that we shouldn't come here..." Rikako sighed and looked to Yumemi with a 'I told you so' look. "We should do as she says I doubt they're going to let us stay much longer let alone set up an outpost here..."

Yumemi however was not intent on giving up just yet, she's already come to far to give in to a human hating beast girl and was going to show her what the power of science can do when in the hands of someone who can wield it like that of a blade of judgment "How about we have a contest then?" Yumemi announced to the woman, going by her assumptions that this individuals personality would mean that she would most definetly accept a challenge from an outsider. It was, after all, a beasts primal instinct to ward off would be rivals from their territory by doing battle with them.

"Contest, eh? Alright I'm listenin' name your game, Redhead!"

"Danmaku" Yumemi proposed, just ignoring the more than prudish nickname this stranger had branded on her. "A one on one match, last one standing wins. If I am victorious team, then we gain full access to this jungle and it's resources, sound fair?""

"Fine by me." The lion woman says nonchalanly.

"What of you, Miss..."

"Nojiko. Satsuyaaju Nojiko"

"Ah, Nojiko. What are your terms?" Yumemi asks with Nojiko laughed in reponse

"Isn't it obvious? If I win then you take your...thingamajiger and get out of here"

"Very well"

"Well then" Nojiko cracks her knuckles a cruel smile spreading across her suntanned face, her beastial eyes showing just how much she wanted to fight. "I'll let you have the 1st move Redhead, I prefer my meat raw"

"Fine. But I won't be held responsible for any injuries you sustain in this either, Nojiko"


	4. Chapter 4: Wild Instinct

Pro-Phase 4: Wild Instinct ~ Primordial Beastqueen vs. Strawberry Crisis

The jungle air quickly became thick with tension and suspense as both Yumemi and her opponent, Nojiko Satsuyaaju, stared each other down. Although, Nojiko had given Yumemi the chance to open this fight with an attack of her own, strangely Yumemi did nothing, she only stood in front of the now laying Chimera in which Nojiko was still perched upon. Needless to say Nojiko grew impatient with Yumemi and decided to act upon her hesitation by attacking the professor herself. "Bah! If you're just gonna sit there and look stupid, I'll just put you away myself!"

Nojiko lept off of the Manticore's head her wings spread out to full span as she now sustained herself in the air, she rapidly slashed her clawed hands at the air sending waves upon waves of energy to Yumemi below who only stood idle and watched as the assualt began to make landfall, the powerful energy waves desimating whatever ground it touched and cutting the trees and their branches.

'Just as I thought...' Yumemi still remained stationary eyeing the brazen Nojiko as she continued to attack from above.

"Yumemi why aren't you moving? Get out of the-!"

Nojiko chuckled ominously as she saw the explosion overtake Yumemi's form, her chuckle soon gave way to an uproarous laughter "What? All that big talk and ya got nothin' to back it up? Typical human-"

"I wouldn't count me out just yet, Nojiko"

"What?" Nojiko whirled around to spot an unscathed Yumemi standing below her a smirk on her face. Nojiko wrinkled her nose and turned to face her prey "You're not getting away that easy..." She snarled whipping out a card from within the confines of her pants (eww) "[Animal Sign] - Chimera Rend!" Nojiko's, already formidable, talons began elongate taking on an ominous green aura as she prepared to unleash another attack that she was sure would destroy this annoying human that had opposed her. Just like earlier she cleaved at the air leaveing behind a glowing scratch mark in mid-air that slowly edged forward before jutting down to it's target, which quickly dashed into the underbrush to escape it's range. And for good reason, for the attack slammed into the ground gouging out a gapping hole that was just large enough cut a broad tree stump in half.

"She activated a spellcard already?" Rikako commented as she looked onto the battle between scientist and beast, Nojiko now cancelling her spellcard and chasing after Yumemi like the predator she was.

Chiyuri glanced over to Rikako a quizzical look in her eyes "What? Is that odd?"

"Yes, usually someone will wait at least until mid battle to use one, due to the fact that spellcards require alot more energy to use than just normal Danmaku" Rikako explained to the sailor keeping her gaze fixated on the 2 waring beings infront of her. "But, seeing her activate one this early in the duel is more than just odd, it can be completely inefficent"

"So in other words, Nojiko just screwed herself?" Chiyuri said with a raised eyebrow

"More than likely..."

However, despite coming to that very conclusion the struggle between Nojiko and Yumemi seemed to be about even, Yumemi was still weaving through the sharp assualts of the chimerical humanoid above her, and Nojiko trying her best to hit the one that was constantly dodging her shots. To her, having Yumemi dodging her assualts was as much insult to her power than being called weak itself, so needless to say this flustered her more than anything. "Dammit! Sit still!" She shouted still remaining on the offensive. A confident smile snaked onto Yumemi's lips for she had now figured out Nojiko's pattern, and when someone is to do that then the opponent is in for one hell of a turn around. As the last energy wave cut past Yumemi, she weaved to the right and attempted to flank her blind spot.

Unfortunely, before Yumemi could even unleash her first attack against Nojiko, the beast woman dropped down from the air like a brick and then, burst forward hen she touched the ground. Yumemi let out a gasp as she came to see Nojiko barreling down on her and attempted to dodge but it was already too late and Nojiko tackled the red head with all the force she could bring through to her. Yumemi skid on the muddy ground of the tropical rainforest before Nojiko gripped the scientists leg and slung her into the surrounding wilderness, sending the limp body of her opponent rolling to a stop into a thick underbrush. "Boss!"

With the others not being able to interfere it would seem that now, things were being tipped into Nojiko's favor, since she clearly had the physical advantage here. As Yumemi lay on the ground regaining some lost senses from the impact in which she fell, Nojiko leered at her from above the red pupils in her eyes glowering with hatred. "You think I need a piece of paper to beat you?" She says as she stalked Yumemi's downed body cracking her knuckles "I possess 10x the amount of strength a human like your self could ever achieve, I could easily beat you into submission if I wanted to..."

And this was something Yumemi knew for a fact which was shy she tried to stay clear of Nojiko in close range, if she was able to get a good hold on her physically, Nojiko could easily beat the tar out of Yumemi without even using danmaku. Yumemi felt the talons of Nojiko grasp her scalp as she picked her up by her red hair and brought her to eye level. "Any last words before I rip your head off..."

"Yes...just one..." Yumemi swiftly drew her hand at Nojiko's face "Checkmate" Nojiko's eyes dialated as she realized it was all a set up, she gasped and let go of the scientists red hair but in the end, her opponent managed to plug her face with a glowing red projectile. Nojiko let out a peircing shriek of agony as she put her palms to her now burning face. "Agggh! You bitch!" She cursed, and enraged glare peered from behind her hand only to give way to that of shock and horror as they came to see Yumemi standing with several glowing crosses behind her, the brilliant radiance illuminatinf the shade in which the both of them stood. "Wh-what the?" Nojiko backed away a small ways before she glowered to Yumemi "You...you were stalling this whole time weren't you?"

"No, YOU were the one stalling, by gloating earlier...I just capitalized on it" Yumemi replied with a smirk

------

"I think we should help her out" Rikako says now growing concearned with Yumemi's safety

"Even if we did, Boss would rip us a new one for interrupting the fight, remember this is a one on one deal" Chiyuri replied trying to look as if she wasn't worried,although this was of course a facade for she was in fact more than a little worried of Yumemi making it out of jungle in one piece. "All we have to do is wait til' one of them is finished..."

However, as the two continued to converse on the subject, an explosion erupted out from the jungle, ejecting the sprawling body of Nojiko from the tropical bushes and sending her colliding with the trunk of the tree before she fell to earth limply with a low 'THUD'. Before long, Yumemi slowly came from the woods following Nojiko's trail leading up to her motionless body at the foot of the tree she had smacked into.

"Yumemi, you're okay!" Rikako exclaims at least relieved that her colleugue was alive.

"Yes, I'm okay" She replied with a smile "But it's not over just yet..." She came to stop next to Nojiko's body staring down at her opponent before finally speaking to her. "Now...I believe that's game...As per the terms of our deal, I-"

"What..makes you think I'm through?" The frustrated beast woman growled as she slowly pulled herself to her feet revealing that she had pulled out yet another Spellcard for use against Yumemi. "I've had it with you, human...I'm going to make damn sure there won't be enough of you left to spread on a cracker!"

"[Beastial Sign] - 666 Beasts of Nrvnqsr!"

And just as she uttered those words, Nojiko threw her head back and let loose an uproarous howl that peirced the tropical air echoing out for miles. However, Nojiko's enraged screech was meet with only a cold silence that quickly took it's place. The entire jungle had no sound, as if someone had pressed the mute button negating all and any type of enviromental noise around. However, this silence was beyond ordinary, no, it was the same silence that was present in the calm before a storm. A storm that was capable of causing massive amounts of destruction and cause to anything in it's path...

"I don't like this..." Rikako said in an uneasy tone as she began to back away in caution.

"What? It's just a little quiet-" Chiyuri started as she poked fun at Rikako's possible cowardice before the returning resonance of a rabid animal aroused all 3 of the scientists attention. Soon, that one gave way to many roars and snarls of wild beasts the echoes of their stampeding march barreling down from all directions. It is then that the three of them began to realize what Nojiko was up to, and what was to happen if they didn't act fast.

"Chiyuri, Rikako get inside the Hypervessel!" Yumemi ordered to the two behind her as the monstrous cacophony increased in volume and the very ground they stood on beginning to rattle.

"Now way Boss, this sounds like a 3 man job."

"Chiyuri's right, we should give you our aid in this Spellcard!" Rikako also stepped forward, now showing a bit more support for her ally in this fight "You going up against all of those monsters is beyond dangerous!"

"...Very well, but the both of you be careful!" Yumemi remained vigilant to bring down Nojiko but she knew that whatever was coming her way, surely had the intent to kill her and her colleauges. If she were to face this Spellcard on her own then she must find it's opening and exploit it as soon as possible. If not, then the outcome could be well beyond disastrous.

Nojiko smirked as she returned to the ground to accompany the arrival of her snarling beasts, this was her coup'de grace, her trump card (no pun intended). And she knew damn well a group of humans, couldn't survive even seven minutes within the coming storm that was raring to be blown in. "Having 3 of you isn't going to make a difference, no one has ever lived through this spellcard, nor were they found in one piece" Another cruel smile spread acroos her face, giving Yumemi a good look at her razor sharp canines.

Yumemi only chuckled and returned a smirk of her own to Nojiko, pulling out a slip of paper it's exterior taking on a red light "Well then, I suppose there's a first time for everything woudn't you say?" Yumemi then looked to Chiyuri and Rikako, confirming to them that now was the time to strike down Nojiko one last time.

"[Oneirgen] - Dream Bomb!"

"[Temporal Sign] - Time Cutter!"

"[Machina Sign] - Round Gear!"

And with all of their spellcards declared, it didn't take long for them to natrually materialize their attacks, Rikako's was first to launch, the magical gears spiraling about toward their target with Chiyuri's lagre glowing blades screaming behind. Nojiko looked up and could only see the gears collide into her face then her midsection before the blades of energy cut past her knocking her back to the ground. Nojiko struggled to her knees only to be hit by a high powered bomb, that ignited into an explosion that sent out a wave of purple. As the smoke dust and debris begn to settle, the sight of a downed Nojiko was enough to say that she was no longer going to attempt to get back up again. The sound of the rabid beasts that had been stampeding to their location also began to lessen until it could no longer be heard...

"Did we get her?" Chiyuri inquired still at the ready for whatever she may try again.

"We had to have, all of those attacks combined hit dead on, so even if she happened to survive, there's no way she would be conscious enough to get back up again"

"Well, there's only one way to be sure of this" Yumemi said now walking to Nojiko's location and now looking her over, seeing that her already tathered clothing had been compromised further by being burned from the amoung of danmaku she had to endure. It was a miracle that she hadn't been stripped of these articles of clothing being they looked like they couldn't stand us much punishment as say armour could.

"...You...you're not human..." Nojiko hissed weakly her eyes barely open enough to realize Yumemi was standing over her. "...You can't be...if you can defeat me..."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, I am just as human as my collegues standing behind me, Nojiko" Yumemi replied bluntly as she stepped closer to her opponents side now knowing she was alive enough to reply to.

"Then riddle me this hot shot...why the hell did...I lose to you..."

"It's rather simple, you lack focus" Yumemi answered simply as she stood over Nojiko "You attacked me in the very fashion that I predicted that you would; Like that of a wild animal. Yes, I was impressed by the display of raw power you've shown me in these 'Spellcards' of yours, but because of your lack of rationality and impulsive actions, all of that power was reduced to nothing more than misguided attacks and assualts, all of which I was easily able to see through and counter." Yumemi paused giving Nojiko at least a chance to respond to all of this, but she did nothing in return. "Well, then, since I won this battle you must give me this jungle for my work"

"Grh, Fine! But I want no part in any of the crap you scientists plan on bringing forth..."


	5. Chapter 5: Magic or Science? Let's ROC!

-Note: this is NOT the end of the story-

Pro Phase Finale: Magic or Science? Let's ROC!

That was it, this battle, the batte between man and beast, had been won. The upside is there were no losses to speak of on Yumemi's side (save for a few minor injuries attained from the physical scuffle with Nojiko) and tomake things even better she now had a jungle to work with, but however this did not mean that everything would simply fall into place at this moment. No, that was far from the case, and Yumemi knew that, for now she had various other issues to address as of now most needed to be sought after post haste if her plans were to end as successfully as she wanted them to.

She turned away from Nojiko to face her two colleuges ready to brief them on what needed to be done for now "Now then, since this jungle is now under our own jurisdiction, we can begin the 2nd part of my plan" Yumemi announced "First off, we're going to need building material, Rikako do you know of someone who may have such resources, preferably in the steel department?"

"I...think there's someone in the mountains who may be willing to help, but I'm not certain, I've never been up there myself" Rikako answered her uncertainty loud and clear in her voice, to which Yumemi didn't worry too much about.

"Okay, then we're going to need individuals to carry these building materials, from that location and to this location..." Yumemi then places her hand on her chin in thought "But the three of us doing this alone is going to be time consuming, even WITH the Hypervessel...we're going to need reinforcements for this part of the plan"

As Yumemi and Rikako ponder on this current conundrum, Chiyuri's gaze winds over to Nojiko who had now propped herself up on a tree to rest herself from the previous fight, her large chimera companion licking at her wounds. "Hey, Nojiko, do you know any of your 'Chimera' friends who will help us out?"

Upon hearing her assistant address the chimera Yumemi's train of thought shifted immedieatly to the two of them, namely Chiyuri. "Chiyuri, what are you-?"

"Think about it, Boss. We could conserve time and energy if the chimeras here helped us out, I know it seems dicey since I'm sure most of them would be like [i]her[/i]" Chiyrui thumbed in the direction of Nojiko who gave the lot of them a spiteful glare to which Chiyuri paid no mind to. "But, what if there are some friendly chimera, who'd be willin' to help us out? We could at least give it a shot right?"

"Hmm, Chiyuri does prove a point, we're not certain if ALL the chimera who live here are hostile to humans so there's the off chance we might find some willing to help" Rikako agreed looking over to Yumemi who seems to thinking on the matter. "What say you Yumemi?"

"I'm not sure I'd be willing to follow through on this..." Yumemi says with a shake of her head "It's not that I'm willing to give up entirely on the idea itself, mind you it could be our last resort option, but I just don't think we have a good chance of finding Chimera that will be willing to help"

"Then...hmaybe Nojiko would know?" Chiyuri suggested turning their attention to te woman in question who was about to mount herself on her Manticore to leave the area. All of their gazes were just enough for Nojiko to know that they were waiting on her response, and to be honest she really didn't know why they even bothered asking her...they should know by now what the answer would be.

"You know...you three have some nerve askin' me for favors after what your red headed leader did to me" Nojiko said with a chuckle of false amusment escaping her lips. She then turned a sharp glare to the 3 scientists behind her showing she would still remain defiant to them even though she had lost the duel earlier. "Besides, I wouldn't tell you a damn thing anyways..."

"Oh? Have you forgotten the terms of our deal already?" Yumemi steps forward now confronting the beastwoman of her defiance. "You clearly agreed to giving us access to this jungle and it's resources, so you have no right to refuse us information"

"I have no right?!" This was just as worse as calling her weak, evidence of this is the livid expression that wrinkled Nojiko's features as she leered down to Yumemi with her feral eyes. "Just who the hell do you think you are telling me what I have no right to do, I do whatever the fuck I want to!"

Yumemi remained frosty in the heated anger of Nojiko, knowing she had the back up of Chiyuri and Rikako in case things got physical again. "It was apart of the terms to our duel; You agreed to it, so now it's time for you to follow through on it"

"And what makes you think I'd actually agree to that" Nojiko laughed hardly a smug look on her face, she had one last trump card tucked away just for this occasion, and she was intent on rubbing it into Yumemi's face. "Lest you forget...this is the Primordial Wildlands; Where there are NO rules, no restrictions and no morals. Basically you d whatever the fuck you wanna and NO one's gonna stop you"

"Oh, is that so then?" Yumemi says in an eeriely calm tone "Well, since there are now no rules, this means my friends and I are free to do what we will, so in that sense we can simply destroy this jungle and take it by force if we so pleased"

Upon hearing those last words, Rikako stiffened "Y-Yumemi!"

Nojiko however, stiffened alot more then the exciteable meganekko, for this was as much her home then it was a jungle. However, she was more than certain Yumemi didn't have the chutzpah (well...humor me) to pull off this genocidal feat. "...You don't have the guts..."

"I had them when I faced you, what makes you think I wouldn't for this?" Yumemi replied selling her facade with an almost cruel smile that she saw Nojiko give to her before.

Now out of options, Nojiko shifted on her perch, fully realizing that she was in a tight spot. She was too wrapped up in her anger to see that Yumemi was backing her into this corner, bluffing her with the fact that she had the power to cause desctruction simply because she had a large and formidible space craft parked just behind her. The fact that Nojiko had no idea as to what the Hypervessel could really do played more into this. The Manticore below her uttered a low growl as it bore down defensively in an attempt to let it's master know that it was there to back her up in this sticky situation, but it was already futile and Nojiko was well aware of this. "No...calm down..." Nojiko commanded to the beast weakly, who then reluctantly relaxed itself but not without keeping a close on on Yumemi. "...you drive a hard bargain but...I-I'll tell you what you need to know..." Nojiko said in a tone of defeat "But this had better be worth it!"

"Oh believe me, it will be~" Yumemi mused with a smile.

"Well, there's a group of birds that live here called the Rocs, they're alot like us chimera only they're not a combonation of animal parts." Nojiko explained to the lot of them "The Rocs themselves aren't really all that hostile to others and if you're willing to negotiate something with their leader then I wouldn't put it past me that they'll help you in your plans..."

"Hmmm, I've heard of a species of birds called Rocs before, but I didn't think they ever existed her in Gensokyo" Rikako says a bit interested in the sound of these Rocs.

"They do...at least here they do, you're probably famliar with a Pheonix right?"

"Yes, it's a mythological bird that's renowned for it's ability to revive from the ashes"

"Well, they too are apart of the Roc species, as few as they are, I'm told a pheonix (or at least something like one) nests somewhere in Gensokyo's Bamboo Forest, so you could look into that if you want an extra Roc or something" Nojiko shrugged and continued on "Anywho, their leader is located with in the crater of that mountain just north of here, talk with him and he may be willing to lend you a hand...or wing, whatever, anyways most of the Rocs usually hang out there during the day too, so you''ll have a good chance of recruiting some now than you will say at night."

"Ah, that'll do perfectly, thank you for your cooperation, Satsuyajuu Nojiko" Yumemi said to the chimera in question who only sneered at her as she then turned to Chiyuri and Rikako. "Alright, Chiyuri, Rikako I'm going to need you to head up to the summit of that mountain and hopefully recruit a fair amount of Rocs into our ranks, try to get at least 10 of them, able bodied of course, we're going to need alot of manpower, or should I say birdpower, to aid us in our plans, Rikako do you remember that mountain you mentioned eariler?"

"Hm? what about it?" Rikako looked over to the red head.

"That's going to be your next destination. After you gain the Rocs support, report back here and we'll see if we can map out the mountains location from the Hypervessel, I'm sure you have some knowledge of where this mountain is located so we can use that to create a sufficient map. However, if we can not, then you'll have to try and find away to this mountain on your own without raising any awareness from the residents of Gensoyko" She turned away as her tone slowly shifted to a more grim feel "Remember, if Reimu finds out about this, I wouldn't doubt that she would become suspicious of our actions...I cannot allow her to interfere with our plans...not again"

"Well you better, hurry along then, once night falls that's when the nocturnal chimera come out to feast...myself included" Nojiko pointed out, also subtly threatening to eat the group of humans that have intruded in the jungle.

"Say, maybe Nojiko could let us borrow her flying lion" Chiyuri suggested rather sarcastically, it should go without saying that despite beng that of sarcasm it was actually a fairly good idea to consider.

"Yes, if that's the case then we could have a suitable means of transportation without using the Hypervessels power, we're going to need it at full power when the final phases commences" Yumemi then turns her gaze to Nojiko who gave her a 'what're you looking at' expression, it wouldn't take long before she would get her answer. "Nojiko, we're going to need to borrow your...friend there for a moment"

"Wh-what makes you think I'd let you borrow Gao-san?" Nojiko stammered with a flabbergasted look on her tanned face. Apparently, she didn't expect having to give up her chimeric companion let alone someone like Chiyuri to ask for him. Still there was one other way to worm out of this...lie. "Besides h-he doesn't fly..." Lieing was the best option in ways of detering the scientists attention...but this would have probably went off better had Nojiko not looked so nervours about it...or if Gao-san's wings weren't so large.

"Don't lie, his wings are just large enough for him to sustain flight" Chiyuri countered with a smirk "Don't forget I'm Bosses assistant professor so I'm pretty sharp too" By this point Nojiko was yet again knocked on her back, only metaphorically speaking. Her crimson eyes batted between the 3 humans looking to her as if waiting for her continue this (futile) attempt to keep Gao-san from them. Eventually, Nojiko realized that all of them had her in corner...

"Hrmph...Fine, Gao-san will take you there...." Nojiko says with an defeated and slightly annoyed sigh before she turned to speak to the chimeric lion in a series of growls and grunts. 'Gao-san' then responds with a few growls of his own his eyes fixating on the group of humans and then back to Nojiko who didn't seem happy with his response. The annoyed beast woman then proceeded to give the manticore a good tounge lashing (or so it appeared) for his response, having one hand on her hip and her free hand making angry gestures in the air. A cacophony of growls and even roars spewed from Nojiko's mouth as she continued to lay out the manticore who was now laying it's head down in submission to her assualts. It was rather amusing to find a beast as large as he to be verbally detered by a being nearly half his size. After being scolded rather sharply by Nojiko, the gigantic Manticore steps towards Chiyuri and Rikako lowering it's head to the two below it.

"Be warned, Gao-san's not used to having other women ride him so don't be doing anything stupid...I gave him special permission to drop you if you do-" Chiyuri didn't seem to hear Nojiko's final warning and was already climbing atop Gou's head. Rikako was a little more hesitant to follow behind the adventurous sailor.

"C'mon, Rikako quit sittin' around and hop on" Chiyuri invited to the reluctant meganekko who still remained on the ground below, looking at the Manticore with a suspicious look.

"I-I'm sorry but I-I'm not riding...Gao-san" Rikako stammers nervoursly backing away from the beast

"Fine...but you'll just have to walk through the muggy, jungle...I dunno why you'd wear that coat n' stuff but lemme tell ya, you'll die of sunstroke before you do a chimera attack" Nojiko says obviously playing into Rikako's unease "At least with Gao-san you'll have a nice breeze flowin"

Yumemi, for once in the entire time they had met, agreed with the beast woman "Nojiko's right, it's best to go on ahead and ride him to the mountain, it saves alot of time that way"

"...O-okay...fine, but the minute he does something funny I'll..."

"What jump?" Chiyuri teased knowing exactly what response Rikako would make to this.

"N-no...well...yes...But I-"

"Oh just get your ass up here!" Chiyuri whipped her hand down and grappled Rikako's arm pulling her up with surprising strength and speed. All the while, Rikako protesting to the sailor about how rash this is, and how dangerous it is. Eventually her protests were drowned out by the loud wind of the manticores leathery wings as they began to flap vigorously kicking up dirt and loose debris.

"Alright Gao-san, head to the Roc Mountain, you know where it is!" Nojiko commanded to the lion who nodded in confirmation and rose into the air, passing through the thick tropical canopy the sounds of Rikako's screams echoing through the clear skies above as the airborne chimera glided out of sight towards it's craggy destination. Nojiko sighed as she plopped on the side of a tree. "Well, your 2 cronies are off doin' their job, what're you gonna do?"

"Oh, I'm going to be working just as hard as they are, believe me" Yumemi smiles as she walks to Nojiko's side. "But I'm going to need you to come along with me"

"For what? What the hell do ya want with me now?" Nojiko exclaimed more than a little peeved to see that Yumemi was still asking her for favors. For someone who hates humans, Nojiko sure is popular with them, if not only for her resources she presents.

"...Your DNA..." Yumemi replied


	6. Chapter 6: Mountain of the Ancient Birds

Metapro-Phase 1: Mythological Mountain of the Antedilvian Avians

Flying was something you wouldn't normally see a sailor do (in fact that's a contridiction to the very word) but yet here Chiyuri was on the back of a Manticore one hand gripped to the beasts mane and another on her hat as the three of them (Rikako's with them remember), soared through the skies above the Primordial Wildlands. The jungle below a vast sea of green and the occasional outcropping beneath. Despite being used to flying, and even operating a flying machine, Chiyuri found that riding atop Gao-san and racing across the skies in this fashion was the most exhilirating way to travel, though it was rather difficult to hear things what with the wind blowing at high speeds and the sound of Gao-san's formidble wing span flapping about to propel them forward to their mountainous destination.

Chiyuri glanced back to check on the one person who was NOT thrilled by this method of travel; Rikako. The bespectecled scientist was laying as close to Gao-san's body as she could, her hands clutched tightly to his fur like that of a vice and her face showing her obvious unease of the current situation. "Loosen up, Rikako there ain't nothin' to be scared of!" Chiyuri shouted to the top of her lungs to catch Rikako's attention who only remains glued to her position, her frightened expression unchanging. Seeing no further use to try and pry Rikako up, Chiyuri simply shrugs and goes back to enjoying the ride. To be completely honest, Chiyuri had no real idea as to why Rikako was so valuable to her superior's plans, perhaps it was because she's spent alonger time in Gensokyo and therefore is the only one Yumemi can turn to in terms of getting the skinny on recent events and locations.

A peircing screech jars, Chiyuri from her thoughts, it is then that her line of sight shifts to spy a group of Pteredon that were flying not to far from Gao-san's position. The avian reptiles paying no real attention to Gao-san, it would appear that this was routine enough to ignore. However in Chiyuri's case, seeing a flying dinosaur, that was supposed to have been dead for millions of years, certainly was not routine, nor was it easy to ignore. With the sight of these extinct animals, Chiyuri began to wonder what other prehistoric animals roamed these tropical lands, if Pteradon were located here, then she was certain other dinoaurs were lumbering around here somewhere. Maybe if Yumemi was in a lenient mood, she would allow her to explore to find some?

After a good moment or two of gliding beside the Manticore, the Pteradon take their leave and dispearsed in different directions, some heading to the mountains to the west others heading east ward. And others head forward to which, the sight of the mountain that Gao-san seemed to be flying towards came into sight, matter of fact it was a site one cannot miss; Having a base that dwafed the other smaller outcroppings beneath it, and also carrying small traces of ruins on it's ledges and face, Chiyuri could imagine scaling this monstrous crag, as adventours as she is, no human could climb that in one day, especially given the act one had to cross the trecherous jungles below just to get to it's foot hills. Near it's peak was a gapping hole where large bird-like creatures where flying to and from some are human in form while others are not. One thing is certain each one is very different from the other, such diversity ranging from the color of their plumage to the sheer size of their body and wingspan length. "This must be the place..." Chiyuri spoke to herself looking back to Rikako and giving her the signal that they were nearly at their destination.

The birds congregating at the mouth of the entrance glanced over and parted ways to give room for the hulken manticore to land. Gao-san slowly made his descent and spread his leathery wings to slow himself and came in for a smooth landing onto the rocky terrain below. The birds surrounding them gave Gao-san a glance or two of curiosity but generally didn't do anything of hostile intent and went back to conversing in their avian language of squaks, chirps and general bird calls. Gao-san went to the mouth of the cavern and laid himself down to let his passengers disembark, he was a little to large to fit through the entrance anyways so from here things would have to depend on Chiyuri and Rikako's resolve. "C'mon Rikako" Chiyuri called out to the still shaken scientist "We better get goin'"

"E-easy for you to say...you didn't lose your stomach back there..." Rikako replied her pale and terror striken expression proving her point.

After Rikako managed to get herself composed, she then followed behind Chiyuri as the both of them ventured into the cavern's entrance, as nature would imply, there was little lighting in the tunnel, and the darkness only looked as though it increased the deeper one would go into the tunnel. "Geeze, I wish I shoulda brought my flashlight with me" Chiyuri lamented struggling to make sense in this darkness. "I don't think that crater is too far ahead so I think we should be okay if we keep straight"

"So was that your first time flying' back there?" Chiyuri asked a little curious that a resident of Gensokyo would actually be afriad of flying. "Last I remember, you had a jetpack on ya, right?"

"You're correct, I have flown before, just...not at that kind of velocity...or on the back of a giant mutated lion" Rikako answered before glancing up and halting in her tracks, Chiyuri continued on a few steps before doing the same but glancing back at the frozen scientist.

"Uh, you alright?" Chiyuri asked to Rikako who remained silent before leaning closer to Chiyuri's ear.

"T-there's someone here...In front of us" Rikako answered in a hushed tone as if not to attract attention to themselves. "I don't know who it is, but I can faintly see something moving in front of us..."

But as soon as Rikako uttered those words, a calm voice echoed from within the darkness. "There's no need, to hush your voice human I already know you're here"

Chiyuri turned her head to see the faint outline of a human like creature standing just a few steps away from her, although the darkness made it difficult to fully see what this stranger looked like, it was clear that it was female judging by the sound of it's voice earlier and that she had, fear inducing, golden eyes. Irises sharp slits similar to that of a demon. And how was it that both Rikako and Chiyuri could see these eyes? Well, it was simply due to the fact that the golden orbs seemed to be enveloped in an eerie, and faint glow which made them the only thing truly visible within the deep shadows that encrouched both of the scientists and this mysterious newcomer that stood before them.

--------

~Hypervessel - En route to Laboratory Area~

Now, it would be an understatement if I said that Nojiko was in pure shock at the scenery inside the Hypervessel, being isolated in Gensokyo, and a prehistoric jungle no less, hinders one's chance to witness what technology truly looks like, and the Hypervessel is the very epitome of it. From the automatic doors (which made Nojiko jump more than once) to the very lights themselves had the chimerical woman in a state of awe as well as unease. She's never experinced what technology can do and therefore is very on edge on what's going on around her. Much like how an animal is being dragged through an area it doesn't know...

Yumemi however, is willing and ready to exploit any aspect of her surroundings to subdue Nojiko under her will. If she can do this, then there isn't any further doubt that perhaps all the chimera would follow in Noijiko's footsteps if they were in the same situation. "You look nervous, Nojiko" Yumemi remarks as she glances over her shoulder to the chimera whilst she guided her to their next destination, who seemed taken in just by the brightness of the lights and it's and the shine it casted on the metal walls surrounding them.

"I-I ain't nervours!" Nojiko snarled covering her current state of fear with that of anger, a common tactic for someone of her demeanor. "I'm just...a lil' surprised at all this"

"If you say so" Yumemi chuckled "But I can understand what you're feeling, Gensokyo is a realm where technology isn't readily avaliable, and in an isolated place such as this jungle I'd say anyone of the chimera would be more than a little surprised by the Hypervessel's appearance"

"So that's what this thing is called?" Nojiko asked taking another look around her metallic surroundings "The...Hy-per Ves-sel?"

"That's right, built on the outside of Gensokyo's border using the finest technology science had to offer, it is not only our research center but also doubles as our home" Yumemi explained as she steppped past a set of automatic doors with Nojiko followng behind (not before flinching at the sight of the doors opening by themselvees). "Chiyuri and I have used this vessel many times to conduct our experiments, we've even been to Gensokyo before in this vessel, though the residents mistaked it for some kind of anicent ruins, which it most certainly is not, of course."

Eventually, Yumemi passed a larger set of automatic doors that gave way to a large room housing a cornicopia of scientific equipment and utensils used in conducting research both biological and chemical. This was the Laboratory, the area where Yumemi would finally be able to set her plan into motion, her plan to create life. She walked over to a long table before turning to Nojiko who was still trying to make sense of everything her red eyes were taking in. "Now then, sit over there and we'll get this show on the road~"

"Why, what're you gonna do?" Nojiko asked trying (horribly) to mask her fear, being surrounded by a bunch of metal looking objects can only instill a sense of unease on someone...especially if this someone had no idea as to what any of these instruments were for.

"I'm just going to take a blood sample, that's all" Yumemi answered simply as she prepared the needle. "If I'm going to use your DNA in my experiments, then I'm going to need a sample of it first"

"No way, I like my DNA the way it is..." Nojiko protested back only to pause as she realized one thing about the word she had just mentioned "...What's DNA?" That she had absolutely no clue as to what it meant besides having the letters D, N, and A within it.

"To put it simply, it's your blueprint, a genetic layout of what makes you...well, you" Yumemi explained "As I said earlier, I need it for an experiment, for you see I was originally here to gather youkai DNA to create the ultimate youkai, but gathering up enough test subjects for just the experimenation phase would prove to be a daunting task...that is until I met you, the woman who houses not just 1 genetic trait but 3, no 4, traits at the same time" The professor's lips curled into a smile as she eyed Nojiko as if sizing her up. "You're made up of Humanoid DNA, Lion DNA, Bat DNA, even Scorpion DNA, such a creature like yourself could not normally exist without have a massive birth defect"

"So...you want my DNA...so you toy with it?" Nojiko slowly began to become defensive, the way Yumemi spoke to her and these surroundings were giving the chimera a rising urge to leave the area and head back outside in the jungle where she belonged.

"Well, if by 'toy with' you mean experiment then yes, but, that's not the only reason I need it" "I also need this DNA for a future plan of mine for you see...I'm going to create life. Life that wil be capable of attaining the ultimate power needed to finally showing Reimu and her lackies that science is truly superior to this 'magic' in which they hold close" Yumemi explained her tone sounding that of a mad scientist. She then turned to Nojiko with a needle in hand and stepped toward her. "Now hold still, this won't hurt at all"

Upon, seeing the needle, Nojiko's animal instinct kicked in twofold, as she crouched down and began growling menacingly toward Yumemi, the very hairs on her head standing up to make her look 'intimidating'. Her scorpion tail uncurled and stiffened as it lay ready to strike if Yumemi tried to do so first. This was indeed a problem, for while Yumemi could probably dodge a swipe or two from her claws, it is her tail that proved to be the most dangerous. If it holds true to nature, then Nojiko's tail secreats a poison that can be fatal to those it's administered to. And given the size of the stinger it could easily pierce right through any vital area on Yumemi's soft exterior, if enough force and velocity is put behind it's strike. "Calm down, Nojiko, I said it's not going to hurt, and I hold true to my word, let's not make this any more difficult than it is..."

But her subject remains defiant, only backing away, until she hit the wall, and then lashing out at the red haired professor with her sharpened claws as she even attempted to get close to her with the needle. "St-Stay away from me! If you come any closer to me with that...THING so help me I'll claw you to peices!"

After nearly getting sliced, Yumemi stayed a safe distance away from Nojiko at this moment. Nojiko was, after all, an animal, and when animal's get spooked they usually attack out of self defense if they get cornered. So Yumemi went about this another way; she attempted to calm her down and perhaps reassure her that no harm would come to her. "Look, I know it seems intimidating, and for someone who probably hasn't seen a syringe I can bet it does, but I assure you, you're NOT in any danger, Nojiko"

"You think I'd believe that from a human who threatened to blow up my home!" Well this was unexpected, now Yumemi's little threat (which was actually nothing more than hot air) earlier, proved to act against her. Had she not said she would destroy the Wildlands she may've had an easier time verbally coercing the chimera. But, still there was more than one way to skin a cat. "You can take that thing and shove it up your ass cuz, I ain't letting you stick me with that!"

"Okay, okay easy, no need to shout" Yumemi replied holding her hands up defensively. "Look I'm putting it down" Yumemi said as she places the needle gently onto the table behind her and then proceeded to raise both her hands from the needles resting place to further say she wasn't going to pick it back up. Nojiko slowly rose from her crouched position, and eventually dropped her defensive stance towards the professor. Things were going according plan so far. "See, I'm not picking it back up, you can trust me Nojiko, we're partners in this endeavor remember"

Nojiko stood back up right, hearing Yumemi's words and actually seeing her relinquish the needle. For about a full 2 minutes Nojiko stared at Yumemi her eyes showing something close to uncertainty on what to do next. This would be the first time that a human acted in such away in her prescense. With no other reaction in mind, Nojiko went back to her old self none the less..."Bah, why would I want a human as a partner" She spat with animosity, her head turned away from the professor, who said nothing in return. "Whatever, I'm going back outside...it's frickin' cold in here" And with that Nojiko turned her back and headed for the door. In a swift motion Yumemi made a dash for Nojiko's back and grabbed her by the hair. "What the-OOOOW!" With a snatch of her hand, Yumemi yanked out a few strands of Nojiko's purple hair.

"As they say there's more than one way to skin a cat" Yumemi said with a small smile as she turned back to place the hairs in a dish to get to later. "It may not be alot to work with but it'll have to do for now..."

"Arrgh! What the fuck!" Nojiko shrieked cluthcing the back of her head, before she glared at Yumemi with the intent to tear her face off and feed it to her...through her anus. "You soft skinned, red haired, bitch! I should skin your fuckin' ass alive for that!"

"I wouldn't if you want to see your jungle tomorrow" Yumemi remarked in a fataly serious tone as she glanced over her shoulder to face the chimera who threatened her, giving the chimera and equally malicious glare further telling her that she wasn't playing around. Even if that threat was hot air at first, that certainly didn't mean Nojiko had to know that. "Remeber I was capable of defeating you once, I could most certainly do it again."

"Tch, you better be glad you have this...thing at your disposal, otherwise I would have already ripped you in half, human" Nojiko sneered spitting out the word 'human' as if it were a vulgar slur, which it was to her. Yumemi really could not understand why, someone like Nojiko had such a distaste towards humans, if anything she should be more curious about them than angry. She's positive no other human has been here, moreover any that have had contact with Nojiko, so there's really no valid reason for her to hate humans so...unless there was...

However, before Yumemi could even think on this more, a sharp quake rattled the interior of the Hypervessel shaking both Yumemi and Nojiko off their balance. "What the hell was that?"

"If I'd have to guess...a visitor...a big one" Nojiko replied as a smile creeped across her tanned face, before she dashed out of the room, her animalistic impulse to fight kicking into full throttle. Yumemi out of curiosity and concearn of what was strong enough to shake the Hypervessel follows close behind the adrenilated beast woman, her pulse pounding as she thought of what await them outside the vessel...

Yumemi had lost Nojiko, as she appeared to have been fast than her, but even so, Yumemi still knew her way to the entrance of the Hypervessel and eventually came to it's doors. As she reached the jungle outside. Yumemi came to see Nojoko glaring up at the intruder, and when Yumemi's eyes did the same her mouth fell agape. For standing before the both of them was a gigantic reptile, it's massive body nearly the size of the Hypervessel itself, the only thing that seemed small about this imposing lizard was it's arms which were comically small and scrawny. If Yumemi had to make a guess of what this creatue was from it's appearance, what was staring her down...was a Tyrannosaurous Rex. "A...Tyrannosaurous..." Was all she could say on the matter...there was just no words to be said about what Yumemi was gazing on, her own emotions a maelstrom of both terror and amazement.

Yumemi turned to Nojiko who was actually smiling as she was licking her fangs in a predatory lust for blood and violence. Was she actually going to fight this monster? It was 2 stories tall, it outmatched her just by size alone and Yumemi couldn't even imagine on how much power this dinosaur had when thrown into a fit of rage...at least she tried not to think about that part. And then, Nojiko said something that made Yumemi back away for the first time she's ever set foot into this wildland "Heh, I dont know about you, but I've been dying to fight one of these bastards ever since I was a cub"


	7. Chapter 7: Temperance of Suzaku

Prometa-Phase 2: Temperance of Suzaku

Chiyuri was at a loss of what to do; should she run and risk having this...whatever it was, follow her and Rikako out, or should she stand her ground and risk getting into a fight with an enemy who could very much see in the dark? Those golden eyes were still staring straight into her own, their eerie glow almost as similar to that of a magical aura of a spell about to be cast upon those satring within it's gaze. Chiyuri's instinct to defend herself took over as her arm shot into her pocket whipping her weapon out and aiming it right between those glowing eyes. Since they were the only source of illumination it made it easy for Chiyuri to pinpoint a headshot on this stranger. "Alright, I don't know who (or what) you are but I'm not afraid to use this if you don't tell us what you want."

"Please...there's no need be violent, I really don't mean you any harm," The stranger replies in a soft apologetic tone, it's once terror inducing eyes now reflecting remorse and mercy instead of the usual hostility a monster such as herself would show. "If I frightened you, I'm sorry I tend to walk around in the darkness alot by myself, if it makes you feel better I'll tell you who I am..."

As friendly as this person (or whatever it is) sounds, it wasn't easy for Chiyuri to just put down the gun. After all, who's to say that behind that voice was a vicious bird monster who wouldn't hesitate to devour both her and Rikako the moment she let's her gaurd down. On the other hand, Nojiko did say that the Rocs who lived here were friendly to guests, so perhaps it was okay to drop the hostilities, at least for now. Chiyuri lowered her weapon, conceading to the stranger's wishes but not putting the weapon away for if the stranger before her tried anything shifty, she'll at least be ready for it. "Hey, are you, by any chance, a Roc?" She asked.

"Why yes I am, a Cockatrice to be exact," The Roc replied in a friendly tone. "Well, a better word would be Henatrice being I am, infact, a female, but you get what I'm saying, right?"

"A Cockatrice..." Rikako repeated as she began to think on the name, it was familiar to her, but the details on what the creature actually was, is hazy afterall she didn't fully immerse herself in mythology from the outside world. What kind of scientist would she be if she found interest in that stuff? Her ponderings, however, were cut short by a distinct snicker from Chiyuri. "What's so funny?" Rikako asked as she found that Chiyuri did little to cease her giggling.

"N-nothin' just...*snrk*...something you said." Chiyuri spoke in between stifled bouts of laughter.

"Something I said?" Rikako raised an eyebrow and thought back. "What did I say? Cocka-" Rikako halted as she quickly realized the first 4 letters of the phrase she was about to repeat giving Chiyuri a scolding glare as she did. "Ugh, you're a such lewd sailor, you know that..."

"You said it not me." The 'lewd sailor' responded with merry abandon, not the least bit ashamed of what she just had Rikako point out.

However, the only one not totally in the loop with everything was the supposed Cockatrice standing in front of Rikako and Chiyuri, her eyes now reflecting confusion as they shifted between the two strange humans before her. "Hm, is something going on?" She inquired. "Did I miss something funny?"

"No, you didn't..." Rikako sighed, adjusting her glasses as she did so. "Anywho we've been told that there's someone who can assist us when it comes to providing Rocs."

"Hmm, I suppose you mean our Lord, Suzaku?" The Henatrice replied, tilting her head a bit. "While I'm sure that he does not mind visitors, however, I hope the both of you have a good reason for asking him of a request of this magnitude, Lord Suzaku doesn't really 'hand over' our kin to just anyone."

"We do, at least our leader does." Rikako responded, her words true to their very meaning.

"I see..." There was a short moment of silence, before the Henatrice spoke up once again. "Well, is this leader of yours here with you now?"

Rikako paused, knowing that Yumemi was back at the Hypervessel doing whatever she needed to do in order to get their plans working. The only time someone asked of this is when they would later responde with 'Then only your leader may proceed beyond this point'. She could lie but she was certain the hen would figure it out along the way by asking questions Rikako probably couldn't answer unless she counsulted Yumemi first. However...

"Boss, is back in the jungle taking care of some business." Chiyuri spoke up, taking Rikakos's place in answering seeing as to how she took a little longer to do so. "So, she sent us along instead."

The Henatrice nods a bit in response, supposedly understanding where the sailor was coming from with her response. "I see, well, if she's busy then I suppose it would be alright if you visited Lord Suzaku."

"So you agree to take us to him?" Rikako asked to which the hen confirmed with a gentle nod of her head.

"Of course~" She replied cheerfully "Now, come this way please, we shouldn't be too far from Lord Suzaku's nest."

--------------------------

~Back at the Hypervessel~

Nojiko was, apparently, talking trash to the in her native tounge of growls and grunts all the while taunting the oversized reptile with obscene gestures and insults, but all in all the dinosaur didn't really seem to care for her being there, rather what caught it's eye was the Hypervessel itself, in fact the quake that shook the vessel before was the dinosaur's attempt to get it to move by nudging it curiously. This proven true when it leaned forward and bumped it with it's snout. "Oh so you think just cuz you can ignore me I'll go away, huh?" Nojiko snarled as she crouched down prepared to pounce, that is before Yumemi swiftly got in Nojiko's way, her arms outstretched. "Get outta my way! This guy's disrespectin' me!"

"For once can you act within reason and look at the situation!" Yumemi shouted to the foolish manitcore couched before her. "That's a god damn Tyrannosaurus, do you really think you could fight something like that and win?"

"What? We Chimera always fight Dinosaurs" Nojiko argued back, clearly distraught about Yumemi's actions. Since when did it become a crime to challenge a prehistoric repitle that was obviously taller than a 2 story building and had 7 tons OVER your own weight and then some. Nojiko added to this with something that anyone just as foolish would. "It's in our blood!"

Yumemi however, was not born yesterday, and knew this had enough sense in it as sticking your own head in a microwave oven and roasting yourself alive. "Yeah? Well that 'blood's going to be everywhere if you don't stop and think!" The red head remarked, determined to get Nojiko to see the obvious idiocy she was about to commit. "Use that head of yours; are the Chimeras who fight them YOUR size?"

"Uhh...." Nojiko's gaze rolls about as she looks to be searching for a correct answer, some moments later it appears this search comes up empty. "Th-that's besides the point!"

"No it's not, perhaps if your 'Gao-san' was here you might stand a chance." Yumemi pointed out, matter of factly. "But what you're doing now is both foolish and suicidal, as your superior, I order you to-!"

"Don't you dare go tellin' me that you're my surperior!" That was the one thing Nojiko could NOT stand out of Yumemi, her being looked down upon by someone else is bad enough, but by a human no less was something she just couldn't tolerate sitting down. "I'm going to fight it and there ain't shit you can do that can stop me!" Nojiko shouted as she pushed pass Yumemi and dashed towards the dinosaur's gigantic foot. leaping onto it and latching on with all her chimerical might.

The Tyrannosaurous glanced downward having felt Nojiko's bite and let out a low rumbling sound as it began to stomp it's enormous feet about, the sheer force rattling the ground below Yumemi's feet tremendously. However, it's attempt to shake the small chimera of it's limb proved to be for nothing as Nojiko remained latched on like that of a tick to skin. Upon seeing this the dinosaur quickly grew frustrated and let out a thunderous roar as it started to run away from the Hypervessel, attempting to shake the chimera off by means of speed. The raging reptile quickly turned into the thick tropical wilderness and ran off into it, it's roars slowly losing volume as it got further and further away.

Yumemi only stood by watching, curious as to see what was to happened and also worried of what consequences were to come of Nojiko's brash attack on the immense megafauna. The jungle had fallen into a tense silence now, the tropical birds to which the only means of sound Yumemi could hear at the moment. What was going on? Were the both of them coming back? Was Nojiko going to be okay? The latter made Yumemi stop and ponder for a moment, being she didn't really see the chimera as a partner, more or less an experimental subject...so why did she wish for her safety just now...

Which ever the case maybe, her questions were soon given answers as a loud 'WHAP!' boomed from the depths of the jungle, and the figure of a certain Chimera came careening back into the area and slamming into a tree with a force that was simply not of this world. She let out a pained roar of her own, her body bounching off the hard wooden surface of the tree she made contact with and then falling pitifully to the ground below, making contact with a dull THUD a could of dust flying up from which she came to lay. Yumemi looked over and saw that she just lying there, not moving in the slightest, save for a few twictes from her unsurmountable agony of being hit by a dinosaurs tail at ungodly speed and colliding with a tree at that same force. Unfortunately the dinosaur who did this to her was right coming back to bring down the hammer of doom upon her, it's piercing battlecry tearing through the air like the spear of Longinus itself.

"Nojiko, get up!" Yumemi called to the chimera who still did not move, let alone acknowledge she was being spoken to. This was bad, if she didn't find away to ither get Nojiko to arise from her collapsed state, or deter the dinosaur then her only test subject in creating chimeras was to be lost to her own impulsive actions of provoking a dinosaur. The ground began to quake, the thunderous foot steps of the Tyrannosaurous quickly getting louder and stronger with each passing second that slipped away. Time was running out, and for once Yumemi was which were the more logical decision to go with.

To her horror, she saw the dinosaur burst from the jungle it's gaping maw wide open revealing the rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth, capable of tearing flesh with little to no effort. Yumemi was out of time, she...

GOOOOOOOARRRRR!

A roar of anguish interrupted Yumemi's deep thoughts and she looked up to see not only was the dinosaur stopped and in pain, but SHE was the one to cause such pain, having shot off a danmaku bullet at it's eye or something whilst it was inches from tearing into Nojiko's unconcious body. Wait...

The dinosaur turned his rage on Yumemi as it slowly stomped toward her, and Yumemi stepping back, knowing full well a human couldn't stand up to a dinosaur and win. The dinosaur quickened it's pace to her and Yumemi, now fearing for her life, began to pelt it with more danmaku, the glowing mauve bullets colliding with it's tough green hide and exploding with a spectacular glow. The Tyrannosaurous roared and stepped back as the barrage continued to assualt it ut this only succeeded in raising it's frustration bringing about a murderours death charge toward's it's new opponent...one that could easily be killed by so little effort...

Yumemi cursed and was opting to run off, leading the beast away from the Hypervessel and perhaps finding a way to lose it. However, when she looked back she saw that the dinosaur had stopped, or rather it was stopped by someone; it's head snapping about wildly as it tried to bite down on Yumemi's soft flesh and devour her, it's muscular legs stomping and pushing forward with all their primordial might struggling to break free of what held it in place. The beast was so close to her face she could smell it's terrible breath that simply reeked of it's past meals. The question remained though, as to WHAT was holding this monster in place? Yumemi was sure there was no else around here but them so there just couldn't be anyone around to help. However, when she looked between the Tyrannosaurous legs, her eyes widened with disbelief as she came to see the being responsible for restraining the reptilian terror.

"N-Nojiko!?" Indeed, it was Nojiko, the one who had taken more hits in this battle than anyone else, and yet there she stood holding the Tyrannosaurous by it's very tail; her animal like claws digging into the scaled flesh of the dinosaur's tail, the muscles in her arms bulging out as she called upon the strength of all the beasts she's devoured to hold this terrible creature of prehistory back. How this chimera managed to hold back a reptile that was 18 feet tall and had at least 7 tons on her was beyond this red head scientist, but it was still a lucky break that she was even doing this in the first place. "How?...Why?!" was all Yumemi could fathom, it was all against physics for Nojiko to do this, if anyone her size ever attempted this, their arms would be ripped off no matter how hard they tried to hold something THAT big back.

"Ngh...killing you...is [b]my[/b] reserved right..." The chimera grunted her face twisted in extreme strain, a set of pulsating veins now popping out of both sides of her head as she struggled to hold back a monster of this magnitude. "I ain't...gonna...let some...lizard do you in...before I do..."

--------------------------

~Back at the Roc Mountain~

Meanwhile back at the Roc Mountain, Chiyuri and Rikako were now following the mysterious Henatrice (a female Cockatrice, apparently) through the labyrinthal corridors of the enormous mountain of birds. The tunnels themselves were rather dark so it was hard to tell if the Henatrice was actually leading them in the right direction (then again that too was difficult to determine being the both of them have never ventured inside the mountain before), but as they went deeper into the mountains cavern some illumination began to appear, albeit a little for them to see what their escort really looked like; a short woman, no bigger than Chiyuri even, with about shoulder length white hair, although it's edges were tinged an odd shade of red. Her attire consisted of blandly colored green sleeveless top, with a dress bottom of the same color, her chicken like wings were spurting from the back of her top, so that meant she must have put holes in her clothing to accomadate such needs. Although, the strangest thing about her was her tail, which was not that of a chicken, or that of a reptile, rather the tail itself [i]was[/i] the reptile half of her; being in the shape of an eel-like [i]snake[/i], it's eyes fixated on the two humans who followed close behind it's owner. Whether or not this Henatrice could actually see through the snake's eyes was something that was not only interesting, but rather disturbing as well.

"You two are awfully quite back there~" The Henatrice mused as she glanced back to Chiyuri and Rikako with a friendly smile. "Do you two have names, I think we can have an easier time talking if we knew each others' names."

"Yes, right..." Rikako began, her mind still not off the hen's tail which was still staring at her with unnerving resolve. Just when she thought she's seen it all, something else strange decides to pop up and add to the list of things that defy science and logic. "I'm Rikako Asakura, Gensokyo's Lone Scientist." She then nudges Chiyuri who also seemed to be staring at the hen's tail, although in her eyes she more or less want to pull it than anything else.

"Huh, oh, the name's Chiyuri Kitashirasawa." Chiyuri stammered a bit having been jarred from staring at, what is essentially, the weirdest thing she's seen in all her time of being here.

"My, that's certainly a mouthful~" The hen chuckled before going on to give her own name just as Rikako and Chiyuri had. "I go by the name, Shirotori Basiliskrow, but you can just call me Shirotori if you want to."

"Does you tail have a name too?" Chiyuri suddenly blurted out, much to Rikako's chargin. although that IS a very good question seeing as to how her tail was actually another creature save for being connected to her tailbone, and also appeared to be sentinent, albeit, to a small extent.

"Chiyuri!"

"What, I'm just askin'."

"No, I'm afraid my tail doesn't have much of a name" Shirotori laughed, not that offended by the sailor's sudden question about her odd rear appendage. "It has a brain of it's own, but it's not large enough for it to make complicated decisions, so it still relies on me to make all the decisions for the both of us...although that could be because it's just being lazy~" Huh, calling your own tail lazy is something that both Chiyuri and Rikako thought they'd never hear. Hell, someone saying they had a tail with [i]a mind of it's own[/i] would be classified as something they thought they'd never hear.

"Anywho, I think it's best we changed the subject," Rikako advised as she adjusted her glasses, the corridors around her and the others becoming slightly brighter now as they appeared to be heading up a cavernous incline. "There are a few questions I wish to ask concearning the Rocs."

"Huh, but I want to know if she can see with her tail-" Chiyuri was immedieatly silenced by Rikako's hand as Shirotori prepared to respond.

"What do you wish to know, Miss Rikako?" Shirotori asked willing to give the scientist any info she wanted to know.

"For one, I'm aware of the legend concearning the gaurdians of the north, south, east and west...Is your Lord the legendary; Suzaku, bird gaurdian of the South?"

"Yes, at least that is what word of mouth tells me." Shirotori answered. "Although he wasn't always located here at the Roc Mountain, he's told only a select number of us about his past and from what I've heard from the other Rocs, Lord Suzaku used to aquainted with the Dragon of The East, Seiryu, but after he disappeared with the Kohryu, The Yellow Dragon, and the other Dragons of Gensokyo the other gaurdains; Genbu, Suzaku and Byakko, later disbanded to other locations and lost touch with one another. I am unsure as to where Genbu and Byakko are located, however Genbu is said to have spawned a descendent who apparently worked for a shrine somewhere, but that is merely a debunked rumor I heard*, and Byakko may have moved on to the Mountain of Youkai or even may be located somewhere in the Wildlands I cannot say for certain." Shirotori explained "Suzaku claimed that he traveled here and took nest to watch over our kind, and keep his kin safe. But, I think there is another reason for such a legendary figure to take nest a place like the Wildlands..." Shirotori pauses for a moment. "...That's what I've heard anyways, you can ask him yourself if you wish, I don't think he'll mind answering what questions you have about him."

"I see...interesting" Rikako said pondering on what she just heard. Indeed, her assumptions were true but what Shirotori pointed out before, about Suzaku having a higher reason for being here, seemed to catch most of her interest. Although, she'd save that question for the vermillion bird himself once they got there. "Secondly, why do the Rocs choose to nest only here, in the Wildlands, couldn't they easily come to the other regions in Gensokyo as well?"

"The answer to that is based more on 'public opinion' rather than reason, Miss Rikako." Shirotori replied truthfully "But to put it simply, Rocs haven't really found the need to travel to other parts of Gensokyo, so their interest on the matter is spoken for itself."

"So if we expose them to more of Gensokyo, they'll want to explore it more?" Rikako inquired.

"You could say that, yes." Shirotori replied before glancing back to Rikako. "Why do you ask?"

"Boss wants us to travel to some other parts of Gensokyo in search of materials and we, apparently, need the Roc's help to do it." Chiyuri explained as she looked around the cavern taking not of how it resembled more of a corridor to an ancient ruin than anything subterranian. Why was that exactly...?

"I see, well if you have someone who can navigate them then you should be fine, we Rocs are able to navigate by our surroundings from above so we easily get lost if the environment is different." Shirotori says before she stops in front of the two humans, bring their attention to a large stone door that was imposed before them. "Ah, we're here~" The hen added as she walked up to the doors themselves and began to push them open, nevermind the fact that said doors looked as though they weighed more than that of a city bus. Although, the hen soon exhausted her strength on opening it, showing that she had pushed it as far open for just a being of a human's size to fit through. "Okay, Lord Suzaku is just beyond this point, he often naps in the afternoon and can be quite cranky if he's disturbed, so please, mind your manners~" The hen spoke softly as she passed the stone threshold into the supposed lair of the fabled vermillion bird that she called Lord.

Rikako looked to Chiyuri with a stern expression. "That goes for you, Chiyuri."

"What? Why are you getting all strict on me for?" The sailor said with a shug as she walked forward to which Rikako sighed and followed close behind, hoping this meeting would not end in disaster thanks to Chiyuri's...interesting choice of wording things.

As the duo came into the room immedieatly they were greeting with the bright sunlight of the outside, and it's clear blue skys above. Looking out beyond the doors entrance one could easily see how high they were, the view from above being simply breath taking even from where the both of them stood. However, the scenic values of their locations was nothing compared to the avian that snoozed in front of them, and to whom Shirotori kneeled before, it's size alone dwarfing the Hypervessel and that was only when it's wings were not fully spread which could only be as majestically wide as both Rikako and Chiyuri could possibly imagine. The immense bird's feathers were a brilliant shade of, as it's legendary name suggests, vermillion, only it's tailfeathers having a distinct coloration to which case they had a rainbow assortment of colors that stretched around the fantastic bird like that of a cape.

Rikako and Chiyuri could not find words to say to such a picture of legend, instead they only looked on in awe as to what their eyes could precieve. It is only Shirotori who manages to break the silence that hung in the air. "My lord, if I may..."

Those words was all that needed to spoken to arouse the pheonix from it's slumber, the majestic bird raising it's head from it's relaxed position to face Shirotori and his guests. "WHO DARE DISTURBS MY PEACEFUL SLUMBER?" Astoundingly, he was capable of speech, a speech that boomed through the heavens like that of thunder, a voice fitting to that of a legend such as himself.

"I am sorry to have awoken you, my lord, but you have guests at the moment who wish to ask a most humble favor of you." Shirotori replies as she motions to Rikako and Chiyuri who were still standing agape at his prescence.

"Y-you're..." Are all the words Rikako could managed to choke out.

"INDEED, I AM THE GAURDIAN OF THE SOUTH, THE VERMILLION BIRD; SUZAKU!"


	8. Chapter 8: Lolis of the Lost Cretaceous

"WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE, SPEAK OF YOUR BUSINESS HERE, NOW!"

"Geeze, she sure wasn't kiddin' on the cranky part..." Chiyuri whispered to Rikako as she stuck her finger into her ear. Apparently, Suzaku had no indoor voice...

"Shush, let me handle the talking." Rikako suggested as she stepped forward toward the awaiting phoenix, swallowing her nervousness and presenting herself as formal as possible. After all, it's not every day you negotiate a deal with what is essentially a living legend. "Lord Suzaku, my partner and I have come here on behalf of our leader, one Okazaki Yumemi, asking that you grant us a most humble request..." The scientist began, adjusting her rounded glasses as she paused for a moment. "We humbly ask if you can grant us permission to let the Rocs aide us in our endeavor."

Suzaku remains still for several moments, his eyes still locked onto Rikako as a low humming emanated from his chest. Rikako could only think that this meant the majestic avian was thinking on how to respond to her request. Finally, Suzaku spoke once more but in a calmer tone than he had before, however his voice was still as loud as a bomb going off. "YOUR REQUEST IS A SUDDEN ONE, BUT I SEE NO ILL INTENT IN YOUR ACTIONS..." That was something the white-coated scientist liked to hear, this meant that Shirotori's words had some truth behind them. "I HAVE NO REASON TO DISTRUST YOU HUMAN, BUT TELL ME...WHY DO YOU ASK OF SUCH A FAVOR, SURELY YOU HAVE AMPLE FORCES FOR THIS ENDEAVOR YOU SPEAK OF."

That part, Rikako didn't really think through as of yet, to be honest, she was convinced that Suzaku would graciously let them use the Rocs without any explanation as to why he should give them up, but then again, lending someone an army of giant birds isn't something a person would just let go to complete strangers on a whim. "You see...we came here originally in an attempt to hide ourselves from public view, my employer's intentions were shifted when a chimera told us about you and the many Rocs, and thus she had the idea to enlist your aide." That was the truth, in a nutshell. Nojiko's knowledge of the Rocs and their lenience towards humans, unlike the chimera herself, is what gave Yumemi the idea to ask the Rocs for help. Air worthy units also may prove to be a very useful asset in this whole thing as well, making transportation AND surveillance much easier than before if they were to continue with Roc assistance. "You see, Miss Okazaki, wishes to spread the influence of science throughout Gensokyo, something that she believes can benefit the populace of this land if the public accept it." That part, however...was not as true as the last one. Yumemi actually came here to seek revenge against Reimu and show her what science can truly do if put in the right hands. Of course, Suzaku didn't have to know that~

"I SEE..." The phoenix spoke trailing off once more into thought. "I KNOW NOT AS TO WHAT THIS 'SCIENCE' OF YOURS IS, BUT YOUR RESOLVE TO SPREAD SUCH AN UNKNOWN TEACHING IN THIS LAND IS A NOBLE ENDEAVOR INDEED."

"Does that mean...you'll let us use the Rocs?" Chiyuri perked up.

"THAT...I DID NOT SAY, YOUNG SAILOR." Suzaku pointed out extending his immense wing to Chiyuri's position. "YOUR MISSION IS INTERESTING, BUT I AM NOT CERTAIN THAT ALLOWING YOU TO COMMAND MY CHILDREN IS WITHIN YOUR MASTERY."

"M'Lord, if I may..." Shirotori added in her usual hushed tone, "If Miss Asakura and Miss Kitashirasawa cannot use the Rocs...then what do you propose they do?"

"I MERELY WISH TO TEST THEIR RESOLVE," The phoenix suggested as he brought his wing to his beak and began to ponder on what sort of challenge he would place upon the scientist and the sailor below. "HUMAN, YOU SHALL DO BATTLE WITH MY SERVANT; SHIROTORI. PROVE TO ME THAT YOU CAN COMMAND MY ROCS BY DEFEATING MY MOST POWERFUL!"

Chiyuri blinked for a moment and glanced to the Henatrice that stood to the far corner of the area, Shirotori giving her a warm smile and a timid wave in response. "She's your most powerful servant?" To be honest, Shirotori looked nothing that fitted Suzaku's vague description of the bird girl who, to Chiyuri, didn't look as though she could be anywhere near strong as he claimed. If anything she looked more like an errand girl than a powerful servant...well, an errand girl with a tail that has a mind of it's own.

"INDEED SHE IS, YOUNG SAILOR. SHIROTORI'S EYES ARE NOT HER ONLY WEAPON AS I WILL LET YOU SEE SOON ENOUGH." Suzaku replied as he began looking over both Rikako and Chiyuri. "NOW...WHO SHALL STEP FORTH TO FACE THIS CHALLENGE?"

"Eh, I'll give it a go." Chiyuri spoke up with a smirk, the white coated scientist having hesitated in speaking up.

"VERY WELL, I SHALL OBSERVE FROM ON HIGH, SHIROTORI I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK IN THIS BATTLE." Suzaku said to Shirotori as he spread his immense wings and prepared to take flight.

"Thank you, M'Lord..." Shirotori bowed graciously to the phoenix before she returned upright to face Chiyuri with a nervous chuckle. "...Well, this was unexpected."

"I guess, but I was always curious of what a Henatrice could really do so I don't mind." Chiyuri said in a nonchalant tone.

"Hmm, I suppose I should say the same for you as well, humans are a very rare sight in the Wildlands, so I look forward to the many things you can do as well, Miss Kitashirasawa."

"Just call me, Chiyuri." The formal address was flattering, but really, having to say all of that had to be a real pain. Even for Shirotori, who didn't seem to mind it. "It saves the mouthful."

"Hmhmhm, Indeed I shall then."

"Chiyuri, you realize that Shirotori has the power of petrifaction." Rikako informed the sailor as she eyed the hen who kept a friendly smile on her face. "So it goes without saying that-"

"Yeah, I know, I shouldn't look into her eyes." Chiyuri concluded for the scientist as she stretched her arm and flexed her fingers, preparing herself for the fight at hand. It has been a good long while since she truly fought, so this could prove to get her back in shape from the immense amount of down time she's had since she had last visited Gensokyo. "Don't worry Rikako, I got this."

"Let's hope that you do..." Rikako sighed crossing her arms over her chest before she felt something soft touch her shoulder, looking up she came to see Suzaku looking down to her.

"ARE YOU NOT COMING?" The phoenix asked the vagueness of his question more than enough to perplex Rikako.

"Huh?"

"THE COMING BATTLE IS GOING TO COVER THIS ENTIRE AREA, YOU SHOULD COME TO THE SKY WITH ME, WHERE IT IS SAFE."

"O-Oh, we humans can't fly..." Rikako told the phoenix, which tilted his head slightly in response. "Well, most of us can't anyway."

"HMM, HOW CURIOUS...MOST BEINGS IN GENSOKYO ARE CAPABLE OF FLIGHT...NO MATTER" Suzaku lowered his head down to Rikako, motioning her to climb aboard. "I SHALL ALLOW YOU TO MOUNT ME...HOWEVER I ONLY ASK THAT YOU DO NOT TO PULL MY FEATHERS."

"Yeah, Rikako try not to be too rough with him." Chiyuri commented choking back a sly snicker.

"I won-" Rikako halted in the middle of her response. Her face contorted in disgust as she gave the smiling sailor an angry glare, having now just realized the perverse joke Chiyuri just made. "Ugh...leave it to you to make such a lewd jokes at a time like this..."

"Ahh, you always fall for it though~" Indeed she does, Chiyuri…indeed she does...

--------------------------

~Back at the Hypervessel~

How…how was this even possible?

There existed no scientific evidence of a being the size of Nojiko holding back something as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex…let alone a thrashing one at that. Yet, here it was playing out in front of Yumemi like it was every day routine, the dinosaur's struggles growing more and more frenzied by the second, and Nojiko holding fast and not even daring to let go of the beasts tail. Still, impossible feats or no, Yumemi knew this had to stop, lest she have herself and all things she planned ahead for to be destroyed by a single oversized lizard of eons past. Plus, there was only so far Nojiko's ability could go before it reached it's limits and the dinosaur would tear her arms off...

"Nojiko!" Yumemi shouted to the chimera that was still trying to pull the monstrous lizard back away from Yumemi. "Let it go! If you don't your-!"

But it was already too late…for as soon as those words rolled of Yumemi's tongue; the dinosaur planted its enormous feet to the ground and jerked its tail back with an ungodly force unknown to man's daily comprehension. Normally, this would have thrown someone clear across the area, but with Nojiko it did something far worse. In one fraction of a second, the dinosaur's tail flew up into the air, evoking the sickening sound of flesh being torn, muscles ripping from it's sinews and bones being forced from their sockets. An agonizing screech pierced the atmosphere as a pair of small human like arms soared into the air, a crimson trail of blood following behind them as they collided with the front of the Hypervessel and slid to the ground, twitching and writhing about as the nerves tried to register what exactly happened...

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what this meant…and looking forward, Yumemi could see Nojiko standing where she was…completely armless and fountains of blood pouring from each vacant socket that used to hold her arms. The viciously injured chimera stood in place; eyes as wide as dinner plates, as she stared off into nothingness before her red eyes lost what color they had and her body fell to the ground in a heap.

The dinosaur glanced back to the downed chimera and let loose a low snort, apparently treating her efforts to stop it with some form of disdain, before it returned its gaze to Yumemi. "Tch…it seems you're not going anywhere unless I deal with you myself." Yumemi scoffed knowing that actually dealing with something this large wasn't exactly the…easiest thing for her, let alone any human, to do. Even with her powerful 'Strawberry Cross at her disposal, she wasn't sure that it would even penetrate the Dinosaur's hide enough for it to retreat from whence it came. However, there was one thing, or rather one Hypervessel, which could help in dealing with this mammoth enemy. but Yumemi knew that the Hypervessel wasn't designed to be a battleship...at least not NOW it wasn't.

Yumemi had a decision to make, and the Tyrannosaurus wasn't going to wait for her to think on it. With one earth shaking roar, the prehistoric lizard dashed towards the red head its mouth gaping wide open and ready to clamp down on the human that was still stood in it's path. She didn't have any more time...she had to act now or face the unending embrace of death...

"STRAWBERRY CROSS!"

With the words declared to the heavens, Yumemi summoned forth a row of red glowing crosses, the dinosaur that was running toward her now colliding with them head on...but the beast didn't stop there, it simply pressed forward, attempting to break through this barrier Yumemi had created with sheer force alone. Even through the glowing aura of the crosses she had summoned...Yumemi could see the fierce determination glowering in the dinosaur's reptilian eyes. It wasn't going to stop just because it (literally) ran into an obstacle...it would simply destroy that obstacle and reach what it wanted. The monster reared it's head back, and brought down all of it's frustration onto the crosses, the force of it alone nearly knocking Yumemi down to her bottom. Yumemi looked to assess what damages there were, and was relieved to find that there were none...however, this did not mean that she was safe from the dinosaur's wrath, one of Yumemi's crosses had begun to buckle from the force that dinosaur applied to it and another was teetering over.

...It didn't take much to know that her crosses won't hold for much longer, at best another powerful head butt from the Tyrannosaurus would most likely shatter the weakened crosses and leave Yumemi completely open. The raging Tyrannosaurus soon changed it's methods and began to viciously tear at the crosses ahead of it, the powerful jaws biting down into the ethereal structures with a force strong enough to crush a car.

"Damn it...at this rate, I'll have to use the Hypervessel..." Yumemi thought as she began to relent and step back toward her ship. She really wanted to conserve the ships energy for the final phase of her plans...but it looked like she would have to make sacrifices in order to save her own life from being torn to shreds...

"GRRROOAAAR!"

Yumemi stiffened up and craned her head upward to see an immense blur swoop down from the air, and barging into the dinosaur with a mighty tackle. The crosses faded out of into the air, giving the red head professor a good look at what was happening before her eyes; A giant manticore was engaging the Tyrannosaurus, both of them wrestling atop one another and quaking the earth as they tussled.

"That...Lion..." Yumemi said watching the two behemoths fight each other, before they broke their hold on one another and came to exchange deafening roars that threatened to bust Yumemi's ear drums, had she not covered them just now. The professor didn't know why this beast had came out of nowhere and attacked the rampaging dinosaur, but when she remembered that the same type of animal was with Nojiko, she couldn't help but think that this was in fact Gao-san coming to the rescue...although how the manticore was able to know they were even in danger was something Yumemi wasn't exactly sure of...

The two warring beasts continued their primal clash, 'Gao-san' pouncing forth onto the dinosaur and pinning it down with all of its chimerical might. The Tyrannosaurus thrashed underneath the mammoth lion attempting to clamp it's powerful jaws around it's face, but the manticore placed it's prodigious paw onto the reptiles head, and brought it's own fangs down onto the side of the dinosaur's jugular bringing forth a glorious fountain of red as the lions jaws cut through blood vessels like a knife through butter.

But the dinosaur wasn't out just yet...and it showed it's fortitude by summoning a sudden burst of strength and tossing the manticore off it's body in one of the most powerful bucks Yumemi has ever laid witness to. 'Gao-san's body was sent flying back into one of the many large trees that surrounded the Hypervessel, the Tyrannosaurus following through by charging into the chimera's body and slamming into it with the force to stop (and destroy) a speeding freight train. The blow was so strong that the tree they were up against, [i]actually[/i] began to crack and splinter.

'Gao-san' clamped his jaws back down on the dinosaurs head, the razor sharp claws on his muscular paws slashing at the scales of his opponent, creating rows upon rows of claw marks. The Tyrannosaurus didn't pay any of these attacks any mind and head butted the manticore again, this time hard enough to stop it's attacks giving it a chance to reel back, and open it's salivating maw to finish 'Gao-san' off.

Suddenly, a purple bullet came screaming toward the dinosaurs' bloody face, exploding on impact and evoking a pain-laden roar from the gigantic reptile. The enraged dino turned it's head to see Yumemi with her hand out stretched a defiant look in her red eyes, clearing not hiding the fact that she was the one who fired that sucker punch just now. Soon though, this solid expression began to transform into that of a smirk one that usually expressed someone's content when a secret plan has just came into fruition.

And the reveal of this plan came in the form of a scorpion like tail jabbing into the dinosaur's side, injecting the deadly toxin into it's bloodstream the moment it managed to pierce it's scaly hide. The Tyrannosaurus roared out once more and staggered to it's side, regaining it's footing to see that the manticore it had turned it's face away from had managed to jam it's poisonous stinger into it's body. Yumemi's attack was merely a distraction...a rouse to lure it's attention away from the fight and give 'Gao-san' enough time to inject it's poison into the it's body.

Already, the reptile was beginning to show signs of illness, it's head held low as it let out a low rumbling sound that rattled the windows of the Hypervessel. There was no possible way that the dinosaur could continue fighting...and live, the poison was already starting to ravage it's body and if it even tried to exert any more energy it would only spread faster. The only 'safe' option available was to concede defeat and withdraw, perhaps if it rested long enough for the poison to wear off then maybe it will survive the night...maybe

With a sickly growl, the dinosaur turned tail and slowly lumbered into the thick jungle, it's face and neck dripping with blood as it disappeared into the tropical underbrush. Gao-san, with his foe gone, turned his attention to the down Nojiko and began to gently nudge her with his snout, apparently trying to rouse the unconscious chimera. For several moments, Nojiko didn't respond and remained as motionless as she did when she collapsed earlier. Despite this, Gao-san continued to bump her, even licking her wounds to get his fellow chimera to interact with him in some way. Eventually, Nojiko answered his actions with a pained growl, but otherwise not doing anything else save for moving her head to meet his gaze. Gao-san didn't protest her lack of action and simply laid his body down with hers, curling himself around Nojiko so is to put his own body up as a protective shield against any outside dangers that wanted to harm Nojiko, the chimera in question cringing from the pain but ultimately coming to lay down against Gao-san to rest...

Unfortunately, as heart warming as this may be, Yumemi knew that things weren't any better than what they were at first. Even though Gao-san had saved both their lives here, having managed to repel the dinosaur threat AND save the idle Hypervessel...Nojiko's injuries were still quite severe, and if proper medical treatment wasn't given to them soon...she could bleed to death while laying next to him.

Yumemi had the DNA she sought from the chimera...she had what she needed from her...yet she could not just let her die, not after she basically saved her life from that Tyrannosaurus. The least she could do was return the favor.

"Nojiko..." Yumemi spoke up as she walked toward Nojiko attempting to get her attention, however the manticore laying with her wasn't going to have it and he let out an angry roar to the approaching scientist. Yumemi halted in her tracks at the sound of the beasts outrage and watched as he protectively wrapped his body around Nojiko's his fierce cat like eyes piercing through Yumemi with the intent to kill...if she pressed her luck and tried to get any closer.

"No...It's...okay..." Nojiko whispered to the manticore that looked down to her and nodded, before he looked away from Yumemi and gazed off into the surrounding underbrush. With Gao-san stayed for now, the injured chimera slowly turned her pale face to the scientist who wanted to speak with her. "...What...do you want...?"

"We need to treat your wounds," Yumemi said gesturing to the fact that she had no arms to speak of. "...I'm not exactly certain we can reattach your limbs but...we still need to give you some more blood. There's a medical ward in the Hypervessel so I can help give you first aid."

Nojiko didn't answer.

"You're going to die here if you don't accept my help; that isn't a threat...it's a fact." Yumemi spoke again in a serious tone. Nojiko was being stubborn, and trying to remain true to her 'I don't like humans' routine by not accepting the help Yumemi was offering. It was foolish yes, but Yumemi was about to let her see that. "Or would you rather die of blood loss because you were too stubborn to take help when you truly needed it?"

The chimera remained silent, uttering a low growl as she jerked her ahead away from Yumemi's gaze. For a moment, it would seem that the scientists words didn't get through to her...but eventually, "...Gao-san..." Nojiko breathed to her fellow chimera, the beast in question lowering his head to hear her request. "Go back to the Roc...Mountain...wait for that sailor and her friend to come...out...I'll be fine with this human...for now..."

Gao-san however didn't seem to take to this decision kindly and uttered several animalist grunts, apparently trying to get Nojiko to reconsider. Nojiko however, didn't feel like hearing this and simply brought her tail to his muzzle, to shut him up.

"Please...don't argue...I'm in no mood or shape for it..." Nojiko says weakly as she looked off into the distance motioning her head toward the mountain in the distance. "Just go...I'll be here when you get back...I promise..."

Gao-san didn't move for a good 5 seconds, before letting out a low rumble and pulling himself up, but not before grabbing Nojiko by the neck...with his mouth. "H-hey...stop..." Nojiko attempted to protest, but clearly not having the energy to do so. "I...I can do it myself..." Gao-san didn't listen and proceeded to carry her over to the Hypervessel, looking back to Yumemi and motioning his head toward the ship. Yumemi nodded and followed behind him, not entertaining any of the (weak) protests from Nojiko who constantly insisted that she could have walked here on her own.

Once they reached the Hypervessel, Gao-san gently placed Nojiko on the ground and spread his leathery bat-like wings; the flapping of the immense appendages, kicking up a whirlwind of debris as his powerful wings began carrying him off the ground and into the canopy above.

As the winds returned to normal, Yumemi glanced down to Nojiko who was barely conscious, yet still looked to her with disdain. Yumemi only sighed and focused on picking up the chimera girl's arms, hopefully she could reattach them...or something...

-----------

~Deep Jungle~

Burning...Throbbing...

That is all the Tyrannosaurus could feel at this moment, it's entire world engulfed in a maelstrom of agonizing pain. It doesn't even know how far it trudged, but it felt like an eternity...and eternity of walking through a sweltering world of an atmosphere most foul. Breathing became difficult...very difficult, so difficult that the dinosaur just couldn't keep itself mobile and fell to it's massive knees, before the rest of it's body collided with the ground with a thunderous 'THUD' that boomed throughout the jungle, spooking the many tropical birds that roosted in the treetops above.

However...something strange began to happen...

The Tyrannosaurus' body began to pulsate, it's frame slowly shrinking smaller and smaller by the minute as a fine green mist enshrouded it. Eventually, the mist began to dissipate slowly revealing a completely different creature...a young girl to be exact; sporting long green hair, a simple, tattered dress that looked to be patched from various cloths. The girl didn't look to be any older than 11 and the only one aspect about her that could be classified as 'non-human' was the thick, reptilian tail jutting from the back of her dress...

For a moment, all was silent, only the birds above (who apparently came back to their nesting places) singing their melodious songs that resonated throughout the humid tropical air. This silence, however, was soon broken when the bushes ahead of the little girl began to rustle, a burly, middle-aged man pushing past the thick underbrush and his green eyes scanning the jungle floor before him.

This man was by all means, large, if the rippling muscles on his physique were of any indication, and judging by his limited attire (only consisting of a pair of worn shorts); he was probably native to this jungle as well. Much like Nojiko and the strange little girl, this man wasn't human, the tiger like ears and tail he sported evidence of this. As he continued forward his gaze managed to hover over to the downed dinosaur girl that had collapsed earlier on, the pitiful sight of her laying there trying to get up evoking a sigh from his lips as he approached her.

"Hm...You got into a fight it again...didn't you..." The tiger man said to the dinosaur loli as he kneeled down to her side, his gritty voice arousing the youngster from her near unconscious state.

"Ah...S-sorry...I...I just wanted...to see what was...going on..." The dinosaur girl said, somehow managing to choke out a weak laugh before she cringed in agony apparently forgetting that she still had poison in her system. She tried to say something else to the tiger man above her, but her words were drowned out by a spray of blood that erupted from her gullet and splattered across the ground in front of her. Her condition was getting worse...far worse than she had thought. "I...It hurts...Gdon-sama..."

"That's what happens when you rush in without a plan..." The tiger said as he picked up the dinosaur girl within his strong arms and gazed out into the jungle before him. "I only wonder as to what you found that attacked you like this..."


End file.
